Bill McCoy is Absolutely Right about Digital Editions

Bill McCoy’s post about e-content is spot on. A few excerpts:

As we think about a "digital edition" we shouldn't be thinking about a monolithic single-function publication, much less a "digital replica" of paper. We need to be thinking about the flexibility to distribute and recombine content assets in a wide variety of ways, shapes, and forms.

The idea that text-based content of the future won't be any longer than a page on MySpace or an article on Wikipedia is as fundamentally misguided as the notion that YouTube clips will completely replace Hollywood movies.

I think there's one key issue leading some to the false conclusion that long form text is doomed: it's that we don't yet enjoy compelling user experiences for immersive reading in the digital world.

Well said, Bill!