Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age

There are now only two days until the debut of Apple’s much-anticipated iPhone. Writing in an article entitled “Hollywood Seeks Ways to Fit Its Content Into the Realm of the iPhone,” that appeared on Monday in The New York Times, Laura Holson describes how “Many in Hollywood and Silicon Valley hope the iPhone’s multimedia features will make it easier for any mobile-crazed consumer to do the same things they do on the Web: watch their favorite television shows, download maps, send e-mail messages to friends and swap videos.” This is all taking place due to the fact that modern day “consumers demand more and better access to media and care less about how they get it.”

Viewed in this context, the triumph of the iPhone will be a triumph not only for Apple, but will ultimately be a triumph for content itself. Because the iPhone is obviously more than just a phone. In fact, if it succeeds the way that’s being predicted, the “phone” part of the equation will be the least interesting part (since most people already have a cell phone; that’s not why they’re buying an iPhone). Instead, why people are lusting after the iPhone (apart from the usual Apple scruffs who have to own everything Jobsian) is because they’re dying for a gadget that will do multiple things. Yes, they want a cell phone and iPod combo, but they also want something that can send and receive e-mail, watch videos, surf the Web, etc. They want all of these things in one device, and the iPhone will soon arrive to make this a reality.

This has ramifications for the book industry for two reasons: 1. It shows that consumers prefer integrated devices that can perform multiple functions, rather than separate devices that only do one thing; which helps explain why dedicated eBook devices — that only read books — have not yet taken off. 2. It shows that, after changing the face of music, Steve Jobs is now poised to change the world of cell phones. As The Times states, “This will not be Mr. Jobs’s first experience in redefining an industry.” Of course, whether or not Apple plans on taking on the world of books any time soon is anyone’s guess, but the recent activity, and new thinking, surrounding the iPhone shows that even the most entrenched business models have the capacity for change (which means that even publishing could one day similarly change).