Web 2.0 and publishing - by Allen Noren
Allen Noren, Vice President, Online and Digital Initiatives, O’Reilly Media
In the summer of 2007 I had the opportunity to visit a colleague who works at
a major New York publishing house. The building is a landmark in the industry,
tall and glass faced, with a cavernous lobby lined with glass cases displaying
fi rst editions of well-known classics that have sold millions of copies. Several
thousand people work in this building, all of them feeding this integral machine
and scrupulously tending the increasingly antiquated processes that have defi ned
publishing in much of the world as we know it. My visit was fascinating, and not
unlike similar visits to other publishing houses. What was similar was the worry
and fear at the rapid pace of profound change in the industry and society at large,
changes similar to those that have rocked the music industry, and nobody is
quite sure how to navigate a way forward.
This is due in large part to the internet and the phenomenon known as
Web 2.0. More than anything else, Web 2.0 typifi es the ease with which old
and established business models can be challenged by ones that are simple
to create, easy to deploy, and are nimble. This is especially evident in the
publishing and media sectors where sites like craigslist, with a staff of just 28,
has been accused of bringing the US newspaper industry to its knees; where
Wikipedia, the non-profi t and user-generated content site, has decimated
the $650 m a year business once dominated by the venerable Encyclopaedia
Britannica; where any number of fi lesharing websites make downloading the
latest songs, movies and books as easy as downloading one’s email; where
YouTube, the video sharing website, is drawing more viewers than several TV
networks combined.
At O’Reilly, our own business is being similarly affected, and I think we are
on the leading edge of where the changes are taking publishers. This is because
of the nature of our content (we publish computer and technology books), and
because our customers are the most adept when it comes to using the internet.
But this is not a unique phenomenon. Someone once said that the
responsibility of the young is to destroy the past, and a stroll through history
is a walk past once seemingly unshakable, and now quaint, industries that
succumbed to innovative ideas. The trouble is that too many of the captains
of the publishing industry are working harder to defend their existing business
models than they are on creating new ones. In the mean time, some kid, sitting
in his room or at a café, is creating the future.
Which means that the future is bright for those interested in creating the
next generation of publishing models. The need for good content in all its forms
is not diminishing. What is changing is the means of production and exchange,
the business models and rules of the game. It is an exciting time.
I would like to conclude with one piece of advice: think like a beginner. As
the great Zen master Shunryu Suzuki said, ‘In the beginner’s mind there are
many possibilities. In the expert’s mind there are few.’
Clark and Phillips, Inside Book Publishing, 2008, page 72
