There’s an interesting article in the online version of Wired Magazine about the future of newspaper delivery. Nick Bilton, an editor in the New York Times research and development lab, who doesn’t even receive the newspaper at his home, believes that in the future, newspapers will all be delivered electronically. It’s really not a brilliant prediction. I consider it a no-brainer.
Why? Because print papers are dying. Meanwhile, online distribution is growing. What’s 2+2?
Well, literature is pretty much moving in the same direction, only slower.
I don’t think paper literature will ever die. There will still be newspapers in print. There are still radio programs that deliver the news, right? Old systems don’t just die off. They find their niche and hold on. So too do I think print editions of poetry will stick around even as the masses move to online delivery of a dying lit.
It’s already happening. How many poetry blogs are there? They’ve become sort of a cliche, a bit like family memoirs. The only people who care enough to read them are distant cousins. But the good ones really stand out. And it’s just a matter of time before a real literary “blockbuster” takes off in the digital world. There have been a few successes, but nothing yet really stands out as a true blockbuster in the NYT best seller sense. But I see it coming.
What do you see as the future of publishing for poetry and literature? Is there a new Gutenberg on the horizon?
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For the most part, I agree. Much literature and especially newspapers will go online. However, good poetry books and lit will still be printed, even if found initially on the web.
Cupideros