On Thu, 22 Feb 2001 19:35:49 -0000 Dicky (corbettr@dircon.co.uk) wrote:
> > Repro houses are going to get hammered again.
>
> You swine......
> I'll never forgive you for that comment.
Sorry :-) Unfortunately I see photography largely transforming to a sort of
global, copyright-free digital clip-art. Any niche any of us can spot and
occupy is horridly transient, right now. The boundaries between professional
and amateur are dissolving in the process - have a look at www.alamy.com for
the way the wind is blowing.
To the extent that publishers take up this sort of service, plus the
royalty-free distributions from the likes of Corbis, the result will be a
vastly diminished market for bespoke professional photography and a total loss
of scanning business for the repro industry.
And if you really want to get depressed, the next phase is e-publishing instead
of print. I think that's totally inescapable as the web becomes ubiquitous and
wireless PDA technology evolves. At that point the newsagents, printers and
distributors join us in the dole queue. Which is why I'm working so hard at a
small pre-emptive counterstrike, about which more later... :)
You are dead right, BTW, this is all soothsaying and flaky as hell. The trouble
is we all have to make a best guess in order to try and stay ahead of the curve
- and in business. Leave it until it's actually happened and it will slowly
dawn that the clients have all disappeared.
Regards
Tony Sleep
- Online portfolio & exhibit; + film scanner info &
comparisons
