There still exists a small portion of society who would rather hold a book in their hand than read something electronic. The smell of old paper is an aphrodisiac to them. The mention of Twitter gets their blood boiling and they are the last ones on the bandwagon of 'everything online publishing'.
An attitude that is slowly becoming extinct in the face of technological advances.
A recent article in the Financial Review outlined the future of the publishing industry. After studying trends over a 20-year period in the music industry, television and newspapers, Mike Shatzkin, a digital futurist reckons there will be only one major publisher left in 2029. "If you read a book on paper, you're going to be definitely stamped as retro," he says.
A book has different dynamics to a CD though, so it's hard to compare the publishing industry with the music industry, although there are parallels in moving forward. It seems the music labels that have survived in recent times are the ones that embraced online sharing, ipods, fans, recordings and concerts. The publishing industry will no doubt introduce changes to accommodate a changing audience.
Post his Terminator days, Arnold Schwarzenegger has been working hard to reform the Californian educational system. In an attempt to reduce the $350 million spent annually on textbooks, the state recently announced an initiative to use free digital textbooks for next year.
Is this all pointing to the death of the physical book? Some of us may shudder at the thought. We want to live out our old age surrounded by tall wooden shelves filled with books of musty paper.
The writing's on the wall. Bookshelves will soon be relegated to a corner in antique shops.
It is useful to consider the convenience that this transformation could bring. Your kids won't have to carry heavy bags to school. Or forget textbooks. The high school bully could well be the geek who can easily replace entire schooling texts with gibberish.
Either way, let's embrace the change. And may the memory of the corner bookshop with a coffee place bring a smile to our faces as we watch a hologram version of Peter Pan with our grand children...
