“This isn’t quite the canary in the coal mine – think of it as a slight tickle in the mine foreman’s throat – but all signs are pointing to the end of the physical book”. The “canary in the coalmine” refers to the birds that coal miners took into the mine in order to detect gas. When the canary suffocated, it signified the presence of mortal gas. The author is therefore trying to say that Ikea’s move is not a canary that signifies the end of books, but simply “a tickle in the mine foreman’s throat” (“une chatouillement dans la gorge du chef du mine”) which signals, perhaps, the beginning of the end of books.

“As much as it pains me to say this and as horrible as it sounds, the book is leaving us.” Autant que ça me fait de la peine de le dire et aussi horrible que cela puisse paraître, le livre va nous quitter”.

Will bookstores disappear? I think so. With the rise of popular fiction appearing on ereaders, I think the paperback will be the first to go and all that will be left is the “curio” hardback. Then I look forward to a half decade of the publishing industry scrambling to stem piracy and flail wildly at consumers, then hardware manufacturers, then finally settle into the long-fall doldrums the music industry is now facing. Est-ce que les librairies disparaîtront? Je crois que oui. Avec la disponibilité de la fiction populaire sur les eLecteurs en plein croissance, je pense que le livre de poche partira en premier et tout ce qui nous restera sera la “curiosité” du livre cartonné. Puis j’attends à ce que l’industrie passe 5 ans à lutter dans la panique contre le piratage…

…settle into the long-fall doldrums the music industry is now facing. …s’habituer au marasme graduel auquel l’industrie de musique fait face aujourd’hui.