Publishing Industry

A reader took Andrew Sullivan to task HERE for his earlier comment:

"If any industry deserves to go under, it's the publishing industry."

When I saw that quote earlier it kinda struck me as harsh too; but then, I know pretty much nothing about the publishing industry, so I prolly assumed he knows something I don't and called up some fresh bitches moved on with my day.

But on one hand, I can't imagine anyone should be surprised if the publishing industry goes under - the internet did not appear last night; the industry has had years to adjust, be it Kindle, blogs, or their own websites etc etc. If they've insisted on being the music industry and doing the equivalent of churning out Ali Lohan cds for $18.99 and then wondering what the hell happened, well then I don't know what to tell you. Other than funeral homes no industry lasts forever; yeah, I would've hated being a horse trader when Henry Ford cranked up the first assembly line, but that's the nature (and definition?) of industry.

And I'm no tree-hugging Phish-listening hippie, but I gotta figure that if a major industry DOES hafta go down and it's the one whose basis for success pretty much means destroying as many trees as possible, well then maybe we can turn those lemons into lemonade?