by Andrew Lockley
The sky is falling in, if you’re working in the publishing industry. We’re seeing a revolution comparable to the coming of the steam train. Publishers are well aware of this, and are keen to maneuver more successfully than the music industry did before it got overtaken like a stagecoach racing Stephenson’s Rocket. I went to Digital Minds, to see how the world of books is coping with this new-fangled technology.
Unlike in music, there’s no transitional format for books. We don’t load CDs into our ebook readers, and there’s no consequential protection from piracy. In certain markets, piracy is already rife, because there’s no legal channel for people to buy. In other cases, certain titles aren’t available. Harry Potter print format books have been scanned, OCR’d and distributed illegally online. This, and other information I picked up at this conference, showed me how fast everything is changing. I learned how the book publishing industry is trying to cope, following the guiding light from the various sectors which have already been thoroughly smashed up by the coming of this digital revolution. It’s usually easier and cheaper to learn from someone else’s mistakes than it is to invent your...
