Books-The Last Chapter ?.

So with the imminent demise of the printed book and such features of civilized life as bookshops and libraries have our politicians anything to say on this subject?. In the neighborhood in North London where I worked for the last ten years the number of bookshops diminished from about seven to only one.This is something that everyone can see is happening around them .Our politicians have nothing to say on this particular subject despite the occasional noises they like to make about the importance of education and literacy.What is happening is a product of markets and technology which politicians have long ago given up any claim to control over.After all compared to the entire industries they have watched disappear the demise of the book shops and libraries must seem a fairly minor affair. There is also the dumb progressive fallacy that politicians are so fond of.That any changes that they impotently preside over are some form of progress which should be welcomed .I will explore later the possible long term consequences of the present technological revolution on literacy and civilization at a later time .First I will examine how we got to where we are now.