The impact of technology on publishing

Technology today more than ever has a disruptive impact on publishing. The Internet, printing-on-demand and the e-book are the main drivers of change, impacting all aspects of the publishing value chain—from the way books are published (authors can go direct to the reader), distributed (electronic marketplaces), sold (e-tailers) and read (electronic books). The author examines the context of the publishing industry in which these changes are occurring, describes the main drivers and impacts of these changes and illustrates them with an example from the information publishing industry. This paper is based on a presentation made during the conference ‘Blinded by the E-Light’ sponsored by Vista Computer Services (www.vistacomp.com) on June 15, 2000 in New York, NY.