"Consolidation sounds so tidy, so crisp; but as Esposito writes:
"there will be a bloody mess while the final vestiges of the old order
are rooted out." Whatever the body count, we know that as we navigate
the epochal shift from a print-centric to digital-dominant world, we
will be traveling into territory now unknowable. Here at Places, as at
publications everywhere, the uncertainties aren't mere abstractions;
they're both urgent and ordinary. We are truly betwixt worlds, and as
editor of a web-based journal, I've again and again felt the truth of
William Gibson's familiar observation: "The future is already here. It's
just unevenly distributed."
This passage is extremely relevant to what is happening today. The print and pixel worlds are combining slowly and the digital world is taking over print editions. The question of how will these corporations that are solely based print models will make money? Once a copy becomes digital, it is easily transferred from one computer to another. This will decrease the revenue for these corporations.
The "bloody mess" has yet to really happen but I feel as though it will very soon. The knife has been stabbed in and twisted a little, but no bloody mess. This will affect so many people and families. Once the digital age has completely crossed over, there is no going back.
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