

The Decline and Fall of the Book - thejteam
http://memoriapress.com/articles/decline-and-fall-book

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pseingatl
The author of this article fails to recognize that there are situations where
it was necessary to cart around fifty pounds of books. He claims this when
this has occurred it is more due to inefficient study habits. Perhaps these
situations are outside his experience, but that does not mean they do not
exist. I would list them here but there is not enough space in this margin.
The point is that tablets have made carrying many books trivial. Going "out of
print" today is meaningless and is a relic from a time when there was but one
distribution system for books. Print on demand means you no longer need
warehouses full of back list titles. The interesting point seen in the demise
of the print version of the Britannica is to what extent it has been unable to
compete with Wikipedia. Encyclopedias have always been expensive but families
felt that they had to have them. They were sold in shopping malls like Rosetta
Stone is sold today. But when you need a quick initial reference, Wikipedia is
just as good for most searches. The author somehow fails to mention the
Wikipedia elephant standing in the corner of the Britannica out of print room.

