Twelve Things That Will Be Obsolete in 10 Years

The invisible borders that prevent us from downloading content if we don't happen to live in the right country are based on an outmoded model.

As much as I hate speculating on what might be obsolete in the near future, there are some things I believe should die so that an industry might be saved from extinction. Ever try to purchase an e-book, only to discover it’s not available in your geographic area? I would hope that in another 10 years, territorial restrictions on digital goods – a.k.a. artificial borders – based on physical distribution models will cease to exist.

To understand why artificial borders exist requires a look back on why territorial restrictions were created in the first place. And while this article focuses on the publishing industry and books in general, it might apply to other markets.

Back when the only option was physical delivery of books, language barrier issues aside, it made sense for various market forces to purchase and secure distribution rights within particular geographic regions. Despite all three being English language markets, there will often be a Canadian, U.S., and U.K. edition of the exact same book.

One thing this approach allows for is subtle changes in marketing, cover design, and format. For example, Lawrence Hill’s bestselling novel, published by HarperCollins in Canada as The Book of Negroes, is published in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand as Someone Knows My Name. The title change is based on an understanding of the subtle differences in the markets – in this case an appeal to an audience that wouldn’t accept “Negroes” in the title.

Each territory has not only a marketing department and physical distribution system in place, but also a sales force that adds a similar value based on the uniqueness and critical understanding of that market.

In a nutshell, then, territorial rights represent significant real-world costs and investments. Thus, consumers are restricted to purchasing items within their own territories in order to ensure compensation for these investment costs.

With the advent of digital books, however, the same territorial restrictions exist despite the fact that digital distribution typically involves a significant reduction in those costs. Instead of re-imagining a cost-effective manner of digital distribution that allows customers to purchase the item regardless of their geographic location, and for the originating content owners and curators to be fairly compensated, in many cases these restrictions limit the ability to sell e-books that people want to buy.

While it makes sense that authors, agents, publishers, distributors, and retailers should be compensated for sales, it doesn’t make sense to restrict a customer from being able to trade money for a digital good, particularly when it’s based on last century’s distribution model.

If you make it easier for a customer to steal a digital file than to purchase one, that’s what people will do. And let’s be honest, titles are far easier to access via illegal file sharing sites than through the current legal and legitimate distribution methods that exist.

So this speculation on a trend/practice that is going to become obsolete is based on my desire to see an industry evolve and adapt so it can continue to exist. Because, whether I’m buying the printed version or the e-book version, as a consumer and book lover, I just want to be able to do it easily and legally, so I can enjoy reading and support an industry that gives this reader so much.