An article was recently written by John Biggs, regarding the effect of E-Readers on the Publishing industry. This was rather unique to start with, because John has quite an Internet presence on topics from humor to technology. He is the former editor-in-chief of Gizmodo.com.
What added to this unlikely course of events was that the article caught my wife's eye (I guess that means she pays attention to what I do) in the Delta Sky Magazine on a return flight from Minneapolis. Not exactly where I spend my time keeping up with the Book & Print Industry!
Nevertheless, John also writes for the New York Times & Popular Science, among others, and does his homework. Actually, he's quite an inspiration to me: if he can do it, why not me?
Let's get to the article. He gives a nice rundown of the different Readers available, from the Kindle to the Nook, with the iPad, Kobo, Libre, and Sony in between. His point is that while the end is probably not at hand, this technology is changing the way we publish, distribute, and read the written word. And do not limit this to only books; newspapers, magazines, & other content is impacted as well.
We who are involved know this, but have we truly internalized & accepted it? What are we doing within our own organizations to complement (not fight) it?
He makes another simple but startling point: Publishers have figured this out, that paper cannot compete, period. If they have figured it out, what does this mean for we who not only print, but repurpose, distribute, and store (hopefully) their content?
The business model is taking advantage of no (or little) distribution cost. But the real value-added is in the enhancements they're now adding like animation, video, and audio. They are providing apps for PCs & Macs as well as smart phones.
In the interest of space & time, I will finish this article in mine following.
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