Ralex is right. One transition could be the medium. It might go technical or not but definitely, people who wanted to publish their work and protect it already have venues such as self-publishing companies. Print on Demand (POD) companies such as XLIBRIS (www.xlibris.com) suggest publishing your book under your supervision which is very refreshing compared to other publishers controlling everything from book cover to the layout.

Well, before long, who knows - with the advent of iTunes and the Mac Notebook, everything is pretty much else geared towards the advancement of new methods.

Personally, I'd still like to keep my books and love their dog-eared pages. In hardcover.