The future of books - bleak or bright
Towards the end of every year I tour the office, brazenly declaring that the next year will undoubtedly be the year of the ebook, so why should 2007 be any different? But this year, there is more and more evidence that the tipping point for digital reading, if not here already, is just around the corner. With this in mind Penguin, like many other big publishers, is getting its As, Bs and Cs converted into ones and zeros and preparing our catalogue for a time when words will be blithely transmitted across the ether to a variety of devices via a variety of services. Our high level digital director this week spent an hour talking to 200 Penguins from around the company explaining where we were going and giving people an idea of the amount of work that lies ahead. To bookend her talk she prepared the two videos below that give very different ideas of what the future of books and reading might look like. I know which view I favour. What about you?
A World without Books
or
The Future's So Bright...
Jeremy Ettinghausen
Digital Publisher
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Lovely - but I thought you were a penguin not a budgie!
Posted by: Jane I | December 19, 2007 at 01:21 PM
Fantastic videos :) You are doing a greta job.
Posted by: Luca Conti | December 26, 2007 at 09:53 AM
great, you're doing right!
(but I keep on readin even in the old fashion way...)
Posted by: valerio | December 27, 2007 at 03:23 PM
You know, I prefer the old books. We have about a thousand of them sitting in our living room. I think there is an intimacy we are losing as we step into the future, and yet at the same time I am so excited at the possibility of the new devices such as the Sony reader and the Kindle being able to help on issues of scarcity that I am torn.
Posted by: bryan campen | January 03, 2008 at 07:13 PM