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Article: The 21st-century writer; The internet is forcing traditional print publishers to innovate or perish. the same might be true of the written word itself.
- Article from:
- The Futurist
- Article date:
- July 1, 2008
- Author:
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Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2008 World Future Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It's a snowy February Monday in midtown Manhattan. Publishing magnate and tech guru Tim O'Reilly's "Tools of Change" conference has just opened at a Marriott off Broadway. The timing is fortunate; publishers HarperCollins and Random House have just announced that they will be offering more book content online and au gratis. The affable O'Reilly--who has been urging publishers to go digital since the early eighties--refuses to gloat (much).
"They weren't even trying to keep electronic copies [of manuscripts]," recalls O'Reilly. "You look at these announcements today, they seem too little too late, ... but it's allowing them to start innovating, to become part of the ...