The
resurrected Terminator movie series reminds us that in the near future, humanity
will battle machines for planetary survival.
Robot supremacy is supposed to rule the world – unless humans with the
help of robots from the future -- can save it for people. As the futuristic scenario plays out on big
screens across America, the real battle has already begun. In fact, the war of
digital vs. paper and Internet vs. brick and mortar, is about to enter its
third decade.
July
15 marks the 20th anniversary of the debut of Amazon, now the
world’s biggest e-commerce site, a title it has held for a long time. Amazon is looking to take over the world much
the way robots seek to do in the Terminator series. Slowly but steadily, Amazon grows market
share in all the sectors it is in, from publishing and cloud space to
television, movies, diapers, and other products. Amazon is actually making use of robots in
warehouses, drones for deliveries, and computers for the marketing and selling
of over 75 billion dollars worth of goods this year.
For
book publishing, Amazon has won. It
sells more e-books than anyone. It sells
more books overall than anyone. It
publishes and self-publishes as well. It’s opening up retail outlets on college
campuses to sell books and other items.
We need a force from the future to come back to the present to minimize
Amazon’s gigantic impact on the industry.
The
book industry cannot lose the battle against technology. It embraces e-books and rightfully so. It just doesn’t want to do it at the full
expense of print books. Print books in
stores is what publishing needs. Stores
showcase books, bring about impulse buys, and provide a forum for author
appearances. If everything gets sold
digitally or the product is digital-only, the book industry will retract.
This
is a cautionary tale for other industries and aspects of society. We can’t be
too quick to embrace all things technology, as we displace workers, industries,
and ways of life. We want progress to
come, but at a certain pace and cost.
The old ways weren’t/aren’t perfect, but neither are the new ways. All advance bring about setbacks and new
problems. But if things change too
quickly, too permanently, we lose out on the way things had been, for better or
worse.
I’m
not a technophobe, just a purist. I
believe in a physical society, where we touch things, speak to one another, and
read physical books. But I do value the
speed, reach, and creativity that the Internet and smartphones provide us.
We
just need a happy balance, otherwise it’s Terminator vs. Amazon – and only one
can win!
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