Pierre says: In praise of print

Are you young – or old – enough (it’s all relative) to remember the song “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles? In 1980, it was a favourite at the school dances that were held every Friday night in the Boy Scout Hall in my home town.

At the time, the song was a nostalgic lamentation of the uncontrolled pace of technological innovation, but it turns out The Buggles needn’t have worried. Forty years later, radio is alive and flourishing while VHS and Betamax will never be exhumed.

It’s the same with books. I recently read that book sales worldwide are  increasing, specifically printed books. In 2018 in the USA, book sales generated $26 billion in revenue. The sale of digital books only made up 10 % of that figure.