I got a flyer in the mail yesterday telling me that I could get all of my bills delivered to a single digital mailbox managed by Canada Post.
I could hear it coming, even then.
Just last night I watched JOHN CARTER OF MARS – which mostly sucked and I’ll tell you about that in a day or two – on a movie that I rented while watching my television. Those folks who know me know that I LOVE video stores – but there are no video stores close to where I live so I embracing the new technology and renting my movies from the devil-box rather than buying them.
It’s coming, I tell you.
Just a couple of days ago I read about a new program – started in Canada – for marketing e-books in traditional independent bookstores.
The company involved is called Enthrill. They are currently setting up free-standing kiosk displays in independent bookstores right across Canada – at which you can actually download e-books right in the store.
This is great news. All of this shouting about how e-books will kill off traditionally published books and bookstores could be neatly circumvented if there were more opportunities such as this one to marry the e-book with the traditional model.
There is a link to the Enthrill website if you want to find out more – just click on that photo up there as well.
So what does this tell me?
The fact is, the world is turning digital. We are entering The Matrix, and Skynet and the paranoiac cyber-country of writer Philip K. Dick. Every writer out there who thinks that e-books are just fad and won’t really catch on needs to shake their collective heads until their ears rattle off.
We vote online. We bank online. Just last year we did our National Census online.
Just take a look around you.
Standing at the corner of nearly crosswalk in the city is a pedestrian who is most likely going to get run over because they are caught up in either listening to their cellular phone or playing Angry Birds on their Blackberry or reading FIFTY MORE SHADES OF GRAY – THE NEW COLORIZED EDITION on their Kobo/Kindle/Nook/Apple gizmo-bot!
People, wake up. The digital revolution is happening. The desire to do everything while staring at a little metal box that we can carrying in our hands is overtaking people of all ages and sizes.
Maybe you haven’t come over to the dark side yet.
Maybe you still only read books that have been printed upon papyrus and bound in ox hide and fish glue.
Doesn’t matter.
We will infect you yet.
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
YOURS IN STORYTELLING... 
Resistance is futile…
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BORG TO BE WI-I-I-LD!!!
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There will have to be more schools set up soon to educate Old Farts as my daughter calls me. Technology has stopped running ahead of me and has now taken a bus.
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Hey, if an Old Fart like me can figure some of this poop out you can too, David. The good news is – no matter how hard you might try – you can’t really break the internet.
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I have to say I’m resisting…But this idea of marketing ebooks sounds encouraging. 🙂
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Different strokes, Laura. There’s going to be a market for traditionally-published books for quite a few years yet – but the market for digital product is definitely an open-ended construct.
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What? You mean some day I won’t have the chance pay fifty bucks for one collectible book about killer crabs?
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Fear not. I heard the other day that someone had written a book in invisible ink??? that is guaranteed to self-destruct??? within thirty days of purchase. I am certain that we can come up with a digital version of limited edition small press collectibles! Like maybe an e-book guaranteed to only show up on fifty certain e-reading devices.
About killer crabs…
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People moan about the digital revolution, but I love it. Anything that makes information more accessible, like the truth bypassing government controlled media, via Twitter, ebooks with adjustable font size enabling people with visual problems to read again, music on the go in your MP3 player, is great by me. What’s not to love?
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I don’t really know if I “love” it but I am for sure determined to embrace it. Fighting it is both futile and foolish. I’m trying to go where the market is – even if I have to run to catch up.
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There is a lot to like about digital, but I’m still sad about the death of video stores – even the large, evil ones.
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I miss them too – won’t deny that – but my need for new movies to watch will undoubtedly lead me to the dark side…
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