Bookstores [Was: Re: Going OT [Was: Re: Replacing PBXes with Open Source]]

[Jon maddog Hall]

bscott at ntisys.com said:
>   We are witnessing the beginning of the end of an era.  Printed media is
> becoming obsolete.  It will like tens, if not hundreds, of years to finish
                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> doing so, but the wheel has begun to turn.

I will have to agree with Ben.  Despite the fact that I too love the feeling
of pages turning between my hands, and I love taking that book out under the
tree, or into the hammock in the back yard, there are economies that will
force printed books out of existence.

I love reed organs (principal manufacture 1850-1940 in the USA).  There is
nothing better than a properly tuned reed organ, playing away.  However, the
market became so small that all of the companies making new reed organs went
out of business, and now there is just a little cottage industry repairing these
fine instruments.  Sixty years since the last reed organ was made, this
cottege industry thrives, but sooner or later the parts will become scarce
enough that the only reed organs to be found will be in museums, and usually
not played, only displayed.

Still, technology comes to the rescue, with electronic reed organs, CDs of
reed organ music, midi-based reed organs, and although the reed organ will
eventually disappear, it will be beyond my lifetime.

So it will be with books.  Fewer and fewer people will buy the paper copies,
and the major publishers will publish both for a while, but eventually only
electronic.  Due to the costs involved with paper publishing, authors will
chose electronic publishing first, with and option to publish on paper.
Eventually the issues of copyright and copyright infringement will be worked
out, and paper books will be fewer and fewer....until economics drives them
away.

The good news is that by the time printed books disappear, the
hollodeck will have been invented, and you will be able to go into the
hollodeck and program up your own hammock, stream, trees and "paper book" to
read.  Or something of that ilk will be available.

And I will be dead, Jim.  So for me it will not matter.

md
-- 
Jon "maddog" Hall
Executive Director           Linux International(R)
email: maddog at li.org         80 Amherst St. 
Voice: +1.603.672.4557       Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A.
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