GEN: another Internet/book perspective

[Jeff Kirkpatrick <jeffkirk@CONCENTRIC.NET>]

Friends,
    Of possible general interest, the following came through in the "Reason
Express" e-newsletter.

JEK

***
- - Scrapped Any Good Books Lately? - -

The Internet has crashed so hard that no one even wants to read about it.
Books about the Net--especially how to make scads of money off of it--now
populate the discount bins. Publishing industry watchers say the aversion to
e-this or e-that extends to books not yet published.

''Some publishers are probably just mulching their Internet titles,'' says
Stephanie Oda, publisher of the book industry newsletter Subtext. ''The
problem is that it really takes a year to publish a book, by the time it's
written, edited, printed, and distributed."

That, of course, gets to the crux of the problem. Given the breakneck pace
of
technology, books that promise an up-to-the-minute look are bound to
disappoint. Of course, it is easier to publish titles that surf along the
crest of a wave than seek out tomes that try to put the ripples in some
perspective.

The immediate question is whether the publishers have learned their lesson.
Or
are we a couple of months out from a slew of titles that bash tech and
promise
destitution for all involved?

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/002/metro/Internet_books_net_worth_falls_i
n_
readers_eye+.shtml
.
.
.
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*****
        Now that we have the Internet, who needs libraries?  Yeah, right,
and now that we have the atom bomb, who needs anything smaller, more local,
in its target impact.
        (Have a blast, folks!)

Jeffrey E. Kirkpatrick
Advocate for libraries, education reform and humanity, in Aurora, CO
e-mail address: jeffkirk@concentric.net

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