This mor
ning my Twitter feed led off with this message from RandomDigital, the electronic arm of the august publishing firm Random House:
@RandomDigital: Please support media companies in transition by buying a physical copy, or subscribing.
Lo, how the mighty have tweeted.
I felt as if I had just passed a pet store with a sign in the window that read “Please buy this puppy while we’re busy bioengineering a dog that doesn’t require walkies.”
It’s no secret that even the great traditional publishers are scrambling to reinvent themselves. If they’re going to stay in business, even the Big Six, of which Random House is one, need to reach readers devoted to electronic toys—which is to say everyone under 20, half of the literate population under 70, and even a goodly number of the quill-and-ink-pot set when no one is looking. I’ve just made up these faux usage stats, so…
