Comments on: Inherit the Wind

By: Eli

Eli — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:16:05 +0000

I always like to reassure 'book people' by telling them that the web will no more kill books than the Cassette or CD killed vinyl. And they say “But the CD did kill Vinyl!” The hell it did. The Vinyl scene is alive and well. It's just a very, very different scene now that it's not filled with ephemera… unrecognizable to a 70's era LP mogul. I think printed paper will be the same way.

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Sun, 03 May 2009 14:37:32 +0000

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Technology news for 2009-03-10 | Technology News — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:06:00 +0000

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By: walt crawford

walt crawford — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:40:23 +0000

Do I really think there’s a viable economic model for the printed word in 10-20 years? Sure. (The “increasing costs of printing” are to some extent a red herring–and, for books at least, printing/distribution is a minor portion of the price.)

Can I prove print isn’t going away (and, for that matter, some physical film and music distribution media won’t go away) in the near future? Nope. But, you know, Moore’s Law has been around for decades, and people continue to change less rapidly than technology. I don’t see that changing.

By: Kenley Neufeld

Kenley Neufeld — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:53:43 +0000

Nothing quite like considering the demise of all we know and hold dear. In my classes where we talk about definitions for magazines, journals, and newspapers, I almost always skip over the newspaper definition. Perhaps in ten years I will need start defining and discussing newspapers?

Since you mentioned the NYT, I have been reading it again after several years of not reading it but I read it using their Times Reader software. I like it.

By: Jason Griffey

Jason Griffey — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:28:39 +0000

Walt: I actually think the term “paper-fetishists” is used not in the literal sense, but in the generalized sense of “enjoys the physical sensations associated with the paper book” and does, in fact, come up just about every time someone talks about ebooks. So yes, I do think that’s an appropriate description.

I also believe, perhaps naively, that it is different this time. I didn’t say all physical media will go away in 5 years, but I do believe newspapers will. The NYT is almost bankrupt _now_. What I gave was what I think the procession of collapse will be, although I will grant the time-frame is somewhat fuzzy.

Given Moore’s law, and the increasing costs of printing, do you _really_ think that there is a viable economic model for the printed word in 10-20 years? One that isn’t, as I said, a bespoke process?

By: walt crawford

walt crawford — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:10:50 +0000

Since I disagree with David on almost all the points, you won’t be surprised that I disagree with you as well–not that libraries shouldn’t be out in front on digital content, but that there’s some bizarre “death spiral” that inevitably sweeps away all physical content in the next 5 years. For one, that portion of the post could have been (and was) written five years, ten years, 15 years ago. It sweeps together vastly different media (in terms of funding, perception, etc.). (Since the U.S. only has two “national newspapers”–USA Today and Wall Street Journal–that’s the one prediction that could be plausible.)

But, I suppose, “this time it’s different.” And calling those who don’t think the way you do “fetishists” is probably useful as well. Or not.

You know what? My special issue on Library 2.0 and “Library 2.0″ appeared more than three years ago. How many “If we don’t do X within three to five years” from back then have come to pass?

By: Eli

Eli — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:02:20 +0000

I always like to reassure ‘book people’ by telling them that the web will no more kill books than the Cassette or CD killed vinyl. And they say “But the CD did kill Vinyl!” The hell it did. The Vinyl scene is alive and well. It’s just a very, very different scene now that it’s not filled with ephemera… unrecognizable to a 70’s era LP mogul. I think printed paper will be the same way.

By: Susan Teague-Rector

Susan Teague-Rector — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:43:44 +0000

Great post! We’ve recently had discussions similar to this in our library. I am of course not the first one to say that we must change how we meet our users online – and quickly. I recently pulled statistics that show that 60% of our users are reaching all of our resources (SFX, Metalib, the catalog, the Website) from off-campus. That number will continue to rise. Unless we figure out how to invest wisely in our digital infrastructure, we’re going to be marginalized for sure…