July 28, 2006

Lessons of the Past for Publishers

To the Editor:

Kate Wittenberg's "Beyond Google: What Next for Publishing?" (The Chronicle Review, June 16) is an interesting, timely, accurate, yet cliché-ridden and confusing essay that points up the difficulty institutions have in making decisions based on amorphous environmental scans. It contains assumptions and generalizations that are stated as incontestable facts. It recommends basing decisions on "changing behavior," though the rate and kind of change are unknown and