Last week, the ABC ran a very interesting article entitled “Australian publishers say the book is not dead, it is\u00a0being redefined by new technology”. Here are a few snippets from the article.<\/p>\n
“Australians have always been in the top three book consumers, along with New Zealand and the\u00a0Netherlands,” says Shona Martyn, publishing director of HarperCollins in Australia and New\u00a0Zealand.”Really what we’re seeing is that, in terms of total\u00a0numbers of books sold or downloaded, the number is\u00a0actually up.”<\/p>\n
“It’s just that . . .where they’re buying them from has\u00a0changed.”<\/p>\n
That change has involved redefining the very word\u00a0‘book’. In many cases, the pages of paper have been replaced by the screen of an electronic\u00a0device.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t look or smell or even feel like a book in the classic form, nevertheless it now qualifies as\u00a0one.<\/p>\n
“You know, people talked about the death of the book, but you’re still seeing a very vibrant market,”\u00a0Ms Martyn said.<\/p>\n
“It’s part of our cultural life, it’s part of what people enjoy.”<\/p>\n
“Our challenge really is just to find different ways of connecting the author’s work, creativity and\u00a0research with the people who want to read it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n