The Risks of Risk Aversion

Leadership at organizations of all kinds often justifies inaction with the statement, “We’re risk averse.” But is being risk-averse itself courting a set of risks? Is there any risk-free choice?

Amazon, PDA, and Library Sales for Books

Amazon’s sales to libraries and patron-driven acquisitions have many interesting marketplace parallels, but Amazon works only with print for libraries, whereas PDA is mostly digital. This could lead Amazon to enter the PDA market through acquisition.

Predicting the Present

The text of a presentation delivered at the recent NFAIS national conference, covering various scenarios for the future of publishing. The argument is that these future scenarios are already evident in the world of the present day, though in embryonic form, and that by studying the “embryos,” we can make reasonable predictions as to where things are headed.