The third in a series of posts on geolocation. For an introduction to the subject see the first post: Reason 1: Because of the opportunity Reason 2: Because of the threat Reason 3: Because it fulfills the ancient prophecy Reason 4: Because it brings back the social dimension of reading But now we draw things to a close with…

Reason 5: Because the web will die

The Web, according to Wired magazine, is dying, perhaps already dead (The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet): ‘Two decades after its birth, the World Wide Web is in decline, as simpler, sleeker services — think apps — are less about the searching and more about the getting’. If, like Stephen Bourne in the second of these posts, you are contemplating a future in which up to three-quarters of your business is in the process of migrating online, then rumours that your soon-to-be primary delivery platform, the open web, is about to go down the toilet, ought to ring a few alarm bells. Too many publishers seem to want to create an online analogue for the library or bookshop. Perhaps it’s time we stopped thinking about sites altogether and started thinking ‘services’. iTunes would be a better role model for publishers in this regard, perhaps; because while there is an iTunes site, iTunes itself could not be remotely be described as a site. Continue reading →