Killing the Book: Sideways at Tools of Change

Charles Stack doesn’t hate books.

Yes, he started the first online bookstore, books.com, in 1992, and it could be said that was the beginning of the end for the brick-and-mortar sellers.

Yes, he is CEO of Sideways, a digital media company that publishes books and magazines as apps.

But Charles Stack loves books and wants them to evolve. Today, he spoke at the O’Reilly Tools of Change conference in NYC and stressed that we still need stories and storytellers.

“The need for storytelling hasn’t changed, whether we’re writing on paper or cave walls or glass.”

He also reminded others in the digital publishing business that “killing the book” is not the goal; evolving and improving it is. “I challenge you, go ahead, kill the book, but face your children and promise them a worthy successor.”

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