Publish or Perish?

Interesting NY Times op-ed on the evolving Publishing and Book industries by James Gleick called, How to Publish Without Perishing. I found this via "Give Me Something to Read." Things are changing so fast right now, I almost don't know which way is up anymore. The Tribune goes bankrupt? Is that a sign of the times or what? Check out this quote about a new day in publishing:

"One could imagine the book, venerable as it is, just vanishing into the ether. It melts into all the other information species searchable through Google’s most democratic of engines: the Web pages, the blogs, the organs of printed and broadcast news, the general chatter. (Thanks for everything, Gutenberg, and now goodbye.)

But I don’t see it that way. I think, on the contrary, we’ve reached a shining moment for this ancient technology. Publishers may or may not figure out how to make money again (it was never a good way to get rich), but their product has a chance for new life: as a physical object, and as an idea, and as a set of literary forms"

The book is already being reinvented by the Amazon Kindle, and journalism is being reinvented by blogs and online news services. How will the newspaper or publishing businesses reinvent themselves? I don't know.

What I do know, is that Jeff Tweedy's line in Ashes of American Flags puts it best, "I know I'd die, if I could come back new." Have a listen...

Wilco - Ashes Of American Flags.mp3