James Glieck is right

Amid a certain amount of gloom in the book industry these days, I am grateful for the clear-headed optimism of New York Times op-ed writer James Glieck, in his article "How to Publish Without Perishing."
He talks about how despite technological advances (the Kindle) and shifts in paradigm (the Google copyright agreement), there's no need to worry about the longevity of the book. I strongly encourage you to read the entire piece, but here are my favorite bits:

"As a technology, the book is like a hammer. That is to say, it is perfect: a tool ideally suited to its task. Hammers can be tweaked and varied but will never go obsolete. Even when builders pound nails by the thousand with pneumatic nail guns, every household needs a hammer. Likewise, the bicycle is alive and well. It was invented in a world without automobiles, and for speed and range it was quickly surpassed by motorcycles and all kinds of powered scooters. But there is nothing quaint about bicycles. They outsell cars."

Book as hammer, book as bicycle. I like this metaphor: that which is useful and necessary and ubiquitous, even when there are more high-tech options out there.

Glieck is also surprisingly sanguine about the results of Google's agreement with the Authors Guild, despite being on the opposite side in the legal challenge. Google now has the right to digitize not only books in the public domain, but those protected by copyright but out of print. What does that mean?

"In bookstores, the trend for a decade or more has been toward shorter shelf life. Books have had to sell fast or move aside. Now even modest titles have been granted a gift of unlimited longevity.

What should an old-fashioned book publisher do with this gift? Forget about cost-cutting and the mass market. Don’t aim for instant blockbuster successes. You won’t win on quick distribution, and you won’t win on price. Cyberspace has that covered.

Go back to an old-fashioned idea: that a book, printed in ink on durable paper, acid-free for longevity, is a thing of beauty. Make it as well as you can. People want to cherish it."

I feel like someone just articulated what I've been saying all along. Here's hoping publishers, booksellers, and readers are listening.