What would Allen Lane make of Amazon? | Books | The Guardian

These are disturbing times for booksellers, publishers and writers. The last 20 years have seen a transformation in the world of letters unequalled since the days of William Caxton. In 1993, we were in limbo between hot metal and cool word processing. Neither Amazon nor Google had been invented. The ebook was for science fiction. Today, however, the world of books has become a kind of IT laboratory. On this new frontier, publishers face a future whose shape is a mystery. In a confusing present, traditionally, it's the past that can often supply a quantum of solace.