The day my father lugged home a LaserDisc player,
I was sure we’d entered the space age. It weighed as much as a small car, but its silver disks were things of futuristic beauty. I held cinema days for friends. ‘It’s great,’ they said. ‘Really groovy’ – this was the early 80′s – ‘But can’t it do anything else?’
They’d heard of machines able to tape television while you were out.
They’d seen the future.
LaserDisc players are no more, and this year’s must-have bit of kit is the e-reader. A herd of cheap devices are lining up to be the next electronic white elephant. Everyone reads digital these days, in case you didn’t know. Books are so last year. Think of the trees.
Continue reading → 
Lucy Pipsqueak shuddered as rain lashed the cobbles.
On such a day she dared not venture out. The inclement weather would surely ruin her bonnet. Alone in the parsonage, she circled the breakfast table absentmindedly, until
from the hallway came the chime of doorbells. Continue reading 
On Mount Kyllini the Publishing Gods were in filthy moods. Sales were down, bookshops were closing and worse, they’d been called together to consider a membership application.
‘What’s the applicant’s name?’ asked the God of Hardback, unable to hide his boredom.
The Goddess of Paperback leaned back in her chair, causing her spine to crack noisily. ‘The form says eBook.’