I have _no_ idea what the entertainment/media world is going to look like in 20 years, but I suspect that it will be quite different. I hope we find new ways of making money for books, but I'm not convinced.
Dammit. That reminds me I owe a decent response to cairmen on exactly that subject.
Movies and music are another matter, they make a lot more money, so they can afford to lose sales. But authors are generally below the breadline already. This surely pushes them into a place where it's no longer economically viable.
So I guess in the future, books will only be written by people who are already independantly wealthy. So quality will continue dropping across the board.
I was thinking about this just the other day actually. The way the internet, and Google, and wikipedia, have essentially pushed the value of everything down towards zero.
So many people now feel ripped off even if they pay 1p or something, because they are so used to getting it for free off the internet.
I mean, I don't know for sure, but I'd wager textbook sales have collapsed since wikipedia became the be-all and end-all of people doing 'research'.
Far from being the great liberator of mankind, the internet seems to be likely to create absolute stagnation.
It's true, we are used to getting pretty much everything on the internet for free. But the reality is that someone has to pay for these services, either via advertising or from a subscription of some kind.
Either that or they view it as a hobby and don't mind that it doesn't make any money. Which I think is whats happening.
Like there are an increasingly large number of people who write, who are happy to write for free because they think it will lead to them getting a big break. Which it won't of course, but in the meantime, it continues lowering the value for everything towards free.
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I have _no_ idea what the entertainment/media world is going to look like in 20 years, but I suspect that it will be quite different. I hope we find new ways of making money for books, but I'm not convinced.
Dammit. That reminds me I owe a decent response to
no subject
So I guess in the future, books will only be written by people who are already independantly wealthy. So quality will continue dropping across the board.
no subject
no subject
So many people now feel ripped off even if they pay 1p or something, because they are so used to getting it for free off the internet.
I mean, I don't know for sure, but I'd wager textbook sales have collapsed since wikipedia became the be-all and end-all of people doing 'research'.
Far from being the great liberator of mankind, the internet seems to be likely to create absolute stagnation.
no subject
no subject
Like there are an increasingly large number of people who write, who are happy to write for free because they think it will lead to them getting a big break. Which it won't of course, but in the meantime, it continues lowering the value for everything towards free.