As a book author I find this sad… and a very scary warning…
More than 10,000 people just lost their jobs from one book store chain alone. (Here's the whole note).
As a book reader who loves roaming the aisles and touching books, this is a bad sign…
I have so many good memories of taking the kids to pick out a new book (with a great cup of coffee in hand).
I often am disheartened by how intellectual property is becoming devalued.
My books are pirated all of the time. Same goes for my videos.
People record live classes against permission… then post them online.
People complain when I give things away for free that it's not enough (or the right file format, or the part they wanted).
For the record… writing a book for me is typically six months of work.
Yes, I also have a "real" job too. I write and teach mainly because I want to preserve the knowledge I have been given or discovered.
But I also like to take the family on vacation, live in a nice middle class house, and send the kids to college.
I want the film, video, and photo industries to survive. Not just devolve into stammering YouTube tutorials followed with back and forth comments telling me how much I suck/rock (or that my voice sounds like Vince Vaughn… or that I am going bald… or that I used to be skinnier).
The world is changing… stealing has become easier…
But it doesn't make it right.
If you need to keep learning to remain professionally viable (and I suspect all of you do) then support that ecosystem.
Read 6 books a year. Enroll in some online classes. Attend a conference if you can.
Read blogs (there's lots of great ones)… and remember to occasionally say thank you. Complaining is okay too… just pretend that a real person is on the other end and actually reads it.
Karma… Pass it on.