For one thing, the Internet serves other print media. My recently published book, The Kids' How to Do (Almost) Everything Guide, would probably not have been done prior to the invention of e-mail because it would have cost too much in money/time to locate the experts. So the Internet is a powerful research tool for writers of books, articles, etc.
Also, in a time of great change, many "facts" don't stay factual for long. In other words, many books go quickly out of date. But if a book can be web extended (living partly in cyberspace), then an author can easily update and correct it, whereas otherwise the author would have to wait a long time for the next edition, if indeed a next edition ever came out.
Also, in terms of marketing, the Web seems crucial, especially for small publishers that can't afford to place ads in major magazines and on the radio. Although large companies continue to have an advantage, in cyberspace small publishers can put up very competitive marketing efforts.
We think that paper books will be around for a while, because using them is habitual. Many readers like the feel of paper, and the heft of a book held in the hands or carried in a purse or backpack. I haven't yet used a digital book, and I think I might prefer one — because of ease of search, because of color, because of sound, etc. Obviously, multimedia books can be easily downloaded from the Web, and such books probably will dominate publishing in the future. Not yet though.
= How do you see the future?
I'm not very state-of-the-art so I'm not sure. I would like to have direct access to text — digitally read books in the Library of Congress, for example, just as now I can read back issues of many newspapers. Currently, while I can find out about books on-line, I need to get the books into my hands to use them. I would rather access them on-line and copy sections that I need for my work, whereas today I either have to photocopy relevant pages, or scan them in, etc.
I expect that soon I will use the Internet for video telephoning, and that will be a happy development.
I do not know if I will publish books on the Web — as opposed to publishing paper books. Probably that will happen when books become multimedia. (I currently am helping develop multimedia learning materials, and it's a form of teaching that I like a lot — blending text, movies, audio, graphics, and — when possible — interactivity).
*Interview of August 3, 1999
= What has happened since our 1998 interview?