Lately, there has been a lot of blather in some portions of the small press about how print is on its way out, the future is going to be digital e-books, etc., etc. While I disagree with this, it does seem likely that e-books will become much more common, with readers such as the Kindle and others catching on more than other attempts in the past, and it probably will be a mechanism for generating some quick cash for a few authors.
With that in mind, here's a cautionary note: Congress is now contemplating establishing a rating system that would govern all forms of electronic media (and possibly some non-electronic forms), with the usual justification of "protecting the children." Given that a large portion of the genre output of today tends toward the extreme in sex and/or violence, this has the potential to be a fairly chilling device toward the expansion of e-books.
Perhaps I'm just being paranoid about the government trying to grab a little more control. For a more balanced and intelligent analysis, click here.
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