From rear cover: "The book that you hold in your hands has become obsolete. 'Now wait a minute,' said Ralph Malzone. 'You mean...'
'No paper!' Carl exulted. 'You don't have to chop down trees and make paper and haul tons of the stuff to the printing presses and then haul the printed books to the stores. You move electrons and photons instead of paper. It's cheap and efficient.'
For a long time Malzone said nothing. Then he sigh a very heavy sigh. 'You're saying that a publisher won't need printers, paper, ink, wholesalers, route salesmen, district managers, truck drivers- not even booksellers?'
'The whole thing can be done electronically,' Carl enthused. 'Shop for books by TV. Buy them over the phone. Transmit them anywhere on Earth almost instantaneously, straight to the customer.'
Malzone glanced around the shadows of the room uneasily. In a near whisper he told Carl, 'Jesus Christ, kid, you're going to get both of us killed.'
'No paper!' Carl exulted. 'You don't have to chop down trees and make paper and haul tons of the stuff to the printing presses and then haul the printed books to the stores. You move electrons and photons instead of paper. It's cheap and efficient.'
For a long time Malzone said nothing. Then he sigh a very heavy sigh. 'You're saying that a publisher won't need printers, paper, ink, wholesalers, route salesmen, district managers, truck drivers- not even booksellers?'
'The whole thing can be done electronically,' Carl enthused. 'Shop for books by TV. Buy them over the phone. Transmit them anywhere on Earth almost instantaneously, straight to the customer.'
Malzone glanced around the shadows of the room uneasily. In a near whisper he told Carl, 'Jesus Christ, kid, you're going to get both of us killed.'
A great sendup of the publishing industry from Science Fictions greatest living Master! Written in the late 1980's!
