Hanging with the media folks

Had an opportunity to hang with a variety of media people this past week at the George Allen Round Table in Sarasota. Talk about a learning experience. It made me realize that we all get caught up in progress. I am especially aware of that with the changes in publishing that are taking place.

One of the guests has written a book about the golden age of radio from 1932 to 1953. At one point in time that was the ultimate in entertainment, other than movies or plays. He explained how television usurped their position. That was followed by a gentleman who told about the early days in television when all the shows were live.

So that brings me to today's changes in the publishing world with the advent of e-books. Bottom line is going to be do we fight them or join them? I think it is a little bit of both.

We still listen to radio today. In fact I can hear the music playing on mine and I still have the opportunity to listen to AM or FM and can listen to commentary or music. As for television, there may not be many live TV shows any more but I have so many channels to choose from that sometimes it is difficult...so I DVD one and listen to another. When it comes to books I do believe it is going to be the same thing. There will be those who strictly want bound paper to hold in their hands and those who want the pages to turn with the movement of the hand.

So I still stick by my guns and know that we can't halt progress or we would still be using buggy whips.