The Future of the Law Book

Thank you to Susan Munro, director of publications for the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia  for pointing to the Law21.ca article on the future of legal publications:  The Future of the Law Book.

Perhaps this is my mania because I'm falling in love with my Kindle, but it just seems to make so much sense.  The best businesses that make sense on the Internet take something we have done and make it easier.  Harvard undergrads were hooking up and dating for years using the printed "Facebook" (heck, I didn't go to Harvard but my college had the same and called it a Facebook).  Mark Zuckerman just made it easier, fast, and better by taking the facebook and putting it on the network as Facebook.

The Future of the Law Book posits that the future of legal publication is the eReader like Sony's eReader or Amazon's Kindle.  I have to agree.  These devices make a reference work - the Deskbook for example - and make it easier, faster, better, instantly upgradeable, and cheaper on top of it all.  These eReaders are taking advantage of all the efficiencies of the Internet.  Add the nearly ubiquitous wireless connectivity of a device like the Kindle and it is hard to imagine why we would want to sacrifice even one more tree to paper for law books.

Look for Hornbooks, Deskbooks, and the great variety of legal resources to be in eReaders in your future.

- Peter H. Berge

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