lolz-is-a-word:

All the arguing about media formats these days can drive you crazy. Or at least it drives me crazy. The reason? The suggestion that one form of communication is “better” than another—that one will “kill” the other.

I think every technology has its time and place. You can fight it, but what’s the…

Reading the rest of the post is beneficial; but Margaret Atwood makes good points about how if you wanna read on paper, do it; if not, read on a screen. The debate about technology dying out is clearly ridiculous, as we still use things that are considered obsolete, and we still like them.

Communication in any form is still communication. If only a few people can understand it, then it’s up to them to either translate for the rest of us, or not. 

I like the idea here, but it seems to oversimplify somewhat.  Sure, we can and will use “old stuff” if that’s what we like, but there are clearly some approaches that work and gain traction, and some that don’t.  8-track tapes are pretty much dead and gone, and I doubt that many people miss them.  Vinyl isn’t dead, but is largely relegated to a speciality market (DJs).

And certainly from a publisher’s point of view, the economic viability of print and electronic publishing matter enormously.  I also suspect that students may care quite a bit about this given the crazy costs (and equally goofy resale values) of print textbooks.