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By David Rothman

Here’s an item graciously contributed by Brian from MobileRead–with obvious implications for publishers of printed books: the decline of the newspaper business.

Brian points to Bob Cauthorn’s post in the Rebuilding Media blog and to an MSNBC clip on text vs. visual literacy. Big newspapers are laying off people in droves, with some of the worst news coming out on Tuesday. And Brian observes: “It looks like the big newspapers are paying the price for their failure to adapt and meet the needs of readers in the 21st century. How many dark Tuesdays will come to pass before they wake up and embrace new forms of digital media, including visual media?”

Exactly, Brian! And the same idea applies to books and e-books. Digitizing books isn’t enough; we need linking, multimedia, you name it, to keep books popular in a Net-oriented era. P-publishers and authors should spend less time whining and more time adjusting to the new realities.

I myself am an old-time text guy and will do all I can to encourage reading. But to ignore multimedia, in 2005, to the extent that most newspapers have, is sheer folly. Book publishers should heed the lesson.

 
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