The Future of Books
When you look back at the history of books, the story is revolutionary. Before books and the ability to economically reproduce them, information and human knowledge was not easily shared. There is a direct correlation between poverty and a lack of books or prosperity and access to books. Books have had a multi-hundred year exponentially successful run! Enter the “e” book (eBook). eBooks have some pretty compelling properties that differentiate them from traditional paper-based books. Note that you will need to ignore copyright constraints for the moment to accept all these properties – I believe the copyright “problem” will solve itself in time. eBooks don’t weigh anything, they don’t wear out, you can take hundreds or thousands with you on a simple low powered slate or tablet device, and eBooks are (will be) easily shared with others. They don’t take up shelf space in a bricks and mortar store or library. You can buy them while sittin...