RE: ALPSP statement on e-publishing.

[Eric Hellman <eric@openly.com>]

Bob,

Considering that the salary you need to pay a top-notch kick-ass
sgml-dtd-writing, P3P-overhauling, server maintaining,
desktop-publishing-converting professional human being is perhaps half of
what it was a year or two ago, I'll put McGraw-Hill down for a 15%
cost-efficiency improvement this year;-}

But more seriously, you touch on an interesting point which relates to
changing business models in the midst of technological change.  Also known
as the trying-to-turn-a-battleship-on-a-dime problem. But it seems to me
that an electronic publishing initiative that takes years to move into the
black is an electronic publishing initiative that is not focusing enough
on cost reduction.

Eric Hellman

At 6:06 PM -0400 4/29/02, Bolick, Bob wrote:
>Moore's law applies to computers, and empirical evidence seems to be
>bearing it out.
>
>I have heard of, however, no corollary nor seen any evidence that it also
>applies to such supply factors as writing code and Document Type
>Definitions (or editing and refining them when processes, content, special
>fonts, and style require it), converting from desktop publishing output to
>SGML or XML (NB: it may be different for most journal publishers, but the
>vast majority of scholarly book publishers and authors do not start with
>SGML and do not work in editing packages such as Framemaker), upgrading to
>new applications to run Web publishing servers, adding new search
>capabilities, adding new software to facilitate remote-user access,
>overhauling Web sites to cope with imposed standards such as P3P, and
>maintaining servers and software. (I won't insult anyone by adding "etc.,"
>but I will admit to being lazy in not providing a comprehensive list.)
>
>Electronic publishing initiatives take years to move into the black, and
>while they are making that trek, the print analog is still required by
>users. Unfortunately, Moore's law does not apply to the capacity of those
>human beings and facilities tasked with continuing to deliver and house
>that print.  Also, I suspect that the print analog to electronic
>publishing will remain in demand for at least a few more generations, and
>in general, professional and scholarly book publishers are still looking
>for the magic blend of doing both, remaining profitable, and growing
>sufficiently to attract the investment to keep at it.
>
>There is a bit "more" to the economics of professional and scholarly
>publishing, and I hope the ALPSP will elaborate on it in this thread.
>
>BobB
>Robert Bolick