I stumbled here on a
post from Nogg where he struggles between his desire to have content available to him in the most convinient form and yet staying legal and on high moral ground.
This made me ask a number of questions. Some of them would put me in jail would I live in Orwell world of 1984 (like is it OK to break a law that benefits noone but the lobbying group who pushed it through in the corrupt goverment).
But some, I hope, would generate a discussion and not a ban from these forum. Like, are book publishers still relevant in this 21st century. I realize their historical importance in popularizing the literature and, through it, making it possible to live in the world we are in today. In the early years of modern literature (and by modern I mean any printed literature) Publishers provided that missing ingrideent that established the connection between writers and their readers. This led to exploding numbers of both and variety of wisdom and knowledge that could be passed through generations. In the still separated world publishers were carriers of this wisdom and knowledge.
But where do they stand now? Both writers and readers can connect with each other now directly, thanks to the integrated world without borders. There are no more costs to publish a book, since digits are free and anyone can post their content on Internet. A professional writer can support him/herself through direct sales of their books and popularize his/her content through the public portals like this one. It would not be possible to create a marketing blitz like the last Harry Potter book did, but was that really a good thing or just a ploy to earn as much money as possible in the shortest time interval?
What are your thoughts on this subject? Am I being naive in thinking that the civilization will not stop to a halt if, tomorrow, all publishers on Earth would vanish from this planet?
Sincerely,
netscorer.