Falling out of print is a book's natural fate. It may be
now, but does it have to be? Do we have the technology now (eg
print on demand) to make sure that a book is always available even
when it's initial print run has been remaindered. This is classic
long tail thinking. Even if the number of purchasers drops to zero
for a few years can we make sure that the next potential purchaser
can still buy it?
Is there a parallel here with audio? Music gets deleted, moved to
back catalogue, remaindered or whatever. There are thousads
(perhaps millions) of albums that it is now simply impossible to
buy. The masters probably still exist somewhere in music label
libraries or recording studio cupboards. Is there a mechanism now
to mke these available again? Perhaps CD production on demand, or
digital storage for later digital download?
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