Ebook Trends: The Year of Living Digitally
Print may in fact find a lasting niche for book consumers—analogous to vinyl albums in the recording industry, or perhaps based on another, yet-to-be-defined value proposition. Be that as it may, many analysts believe that print will not be the primary mass medium for book content in the long term.
This prediction has caveats. For all its other flaws, print is still a more open, stable reading and storage medium. It is not subject to technical malfunctions, the lifecycle of DRM-controlling companies, or the longevity of their e-reading software. To fully supplant print, the ebook format must also satisfy the needs of future readers, researchers and archivists.
- People:
- John Parsons
John Parsons (john@intuideas.com), former Editorial Director of The Seybold Report, is an independent writer, ghostwriter, and editor. He is the co-author of the interactive printed textbook, Introduction to Graphic Communication, on the art, science and business of print, which has been adopted by Ryerson, Arizona State, the University of Houston, and many other schools and vocational training centers. Custom editions of the book are under consideration by major printing companies and franchises for internal training purposes.