After posting my essay on the state of the industry last night (which was pretty much based on the previous post and its comments), all of the ads I got in the spot to the right for the rest of the following day were for the Wall Street Journal. Is this site trying to tell me something?

Incidentally, CarrieR responded to me in the essay's comments and on her own site here. Obviously we have some disagreements, which ultimately seem to boil down to her being a lot more of an optimist than I. Aside from that, she corrects me on a number of things (particularly by addressing the legal issues*) and provides several good links to look at. If you didn't know the industry was in a bad way before, you will now.

Also, Mikuraftwerk.

*In truth, though, I regret even mentioning the legal topic in the article since I think the question of legality is nearly irrelevant. If the industry tries, like a man overboard with a liferaft, to cling to the law in the hopes of saving itself, it will quickly find that its "raft" has been thoroughly punctured by the practicalities of the internet. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing - but do I know that it will happen and must be corrected for.