I do go on about digital, heh?
But what if there isn't a solution? What if there is only wreckage?
It's possible a solution may arrive eventually, after much time and damage.
I was thinking about the great science fiction series by Isaac Asimov: 'Foundation." It's set in a time where it is clear to the historians of the day that the mighty galactic empire they are living in is about to fall. The conceit of this series is they believe they can plan for this by harboring knowledge and experts. (Ah, faith in experts.) They hope to shorten the resulting 1000 years of Dark Ages.
Things go wrong, of course.
I actually have no doubts that when it all shakes out, there were be a way to get the news, to read a book, to listen to music, and to pay for it all. It's just that I can't imagine in advance how that is going to happen.
I watched a show on C-Span yesterday that was talking about newspapers and how they are between a rock and hard place and NO ONE has really figured out how to solve the problem of paying for foreign news bureaus and expert reporters and political coverage and all that unsexy stuff.
I'm not blind to the possibility that comic shops, or bookstores, may become rare. I'm pretty sure that I can extend my career to the end. I don't think we have to rush it, which I think the book publishers and comic publishers are unwisely doing.
I don't look to automobiles versus horse and carriages as an analogy. I look more toward radio; which was once a creative, thriving venue for original material; and is now a corporatized, soul-less, machine/robot, mass market lowest common denominator unlistenable to me platform. But it exists, and it makes money, and a few radio stations manage to defy the odds and play some good music.
Something will emerge from the Dark Ages.
I just which we could figure out a way to bridge the gap.
But what if there isn't a solution? What if there is only wreckage?
It's possible a solution may arrive eventually, after much time and damage.
I was thinking about the great science fiction series by Isaac Asimov: 'Foundation." It's set in a time where it is clear to the historians of the day that the mighty galactic empire they are living in is about to fall. The conceit of this series is they believe they can plan for this by harboring knowledge and experts. (Ah, faith in experts.) They hope to shorten the resulting 1000 years of Dark Ages.
Things go wrong, of course.
I actually have no doubts that when it all shakes out, there were be a way to get the news, to read a book, to listen to music, and to pay for it all. It's just that I can't imagine in advance how that is going to happen.
I watched a show on C-Span yesterday that was talking about newspapers and how they are between a rock and hard place and NO ONE has really figured out how to solve the problem of paying for foreign news bureaus and expert reporters and political coverage and all that unsexy stuff.
I'm not blind to the possibility that comic shops, or bookstores, may become rare. I'm pretty sure that I can extend my career to the end. I don't think we have to rush it, which I think the book publishers and comic publishers are unwisely doing.
I don't look to automobiles versus horse and carriages as an analogy. I look more toward radio; which was once a creative, thriving venue for original material; and is now a corporatized, soul-less, machine/robot, mass market lowest common denominator unlistenable to me platform. But it exists, and it makes money, and a few radio stations manage to defy the odds and play some good music.
Something will emerge from the Dark Ages.
I just which we could figure out a way to bridge the gap.