Books: Sleep-walking into economic extinction?

Here are a few interesting articles about the future of books and the publishing industry worth reading:

• “Google & the Future of Books,” by Robert Darnton, The New York Review of Books, February 12, 2009

• “Stimulating Reading,” by Katha Pollitt, The Nation magazine, January 22, 2009

• “Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature,” by Lev Grossman, Time magazine, January 21, 2009

Note that I took the phrase "sleep-walking into economic extinction" from Nicholas Denton, whose Gawker Media empire was once worth $150 million. Considering Denton worked for the Financial Times and co-authored All That Glitters: The Fall of Barings (1996), I wonder if he is long collectable books and short the British pound?