Whether the traditional publishers are in their death throes is probably not the case, yet. The non-fiction market will stay hardcover and dead tree for a while. I still meet many readers who refuse to switch over, so the impetus will be when the younger generation has finally decided to read. They are hard core wired to their iPods and iPhones, so they will only accept electronic media. Ask a teenager how many CDs they have. Point proven.
I remember telling my wife not so many years ago that digital photography would kill film sales. She scoffed at the time-a purest to the end. Hmmm, I haven't seen a lot of film cameras in any tourist's hands lately. How many remember what speed to buy if they wanted to buy film?
How many remember the ol' record store? I used to love them, but now I Rhapsody and wouldn't look back. I love my Sansa 8GB to carry much of my CD collection and many radio stations from Rhapsody. To go backward or stay the same with CDs (15 songs), is simply out of the question.
I've begun watching movies that my family refuses to watch in my office legally downloaded from Netflix. Do I buy DVDs? Yeah, but I would be happier if I didn't have to. The movie studios understand the changes coming, and they are beginning to work with the distribution outlets to capitalize on the change away from hard media. My latest DVD purchase actually provided the electronic version with it!
Music studios are slowly disappearing as more artists don't see the value in letting the studios get all the money for selling their music. Soon, many authors are going to refuse to watch their hard work go to filling the coffers of fat cats in NY. After all, the author does all the work except printing and distribution, but hey, an author can now buy those things themselves! Heck, they can even buy editorial services.
The joke is these publishers believe they control the market. Clearly, the consumer controls the market. I bought Dan Brown's
The Lost Symbol from Amazon for my Kindle a day before its Hardcover release. Doubleday has it right and will come out the winner, because the consumer will demand it, and they will deliver it.
The time is ripe for eBook subscription services just like Rhapsody and iTunes for music. Some are already starting, but I think someone big will have to drive it into reality. Can you say Apple? Maybe, unless Amazon gives it a whirl. I'd pay $10-$30 a month for all I can read electronically. Heck, I pay more than that for Television.
No offense to those who love them, but to cut down a perfectly good tree to print a book that is originally created on a computer is absurd in this day and age. Power to the people and power to the planet
