Amazon’s dominance is changing the power structure of publishing – a pattern that may be borne out in several other industries.
If digital disruption amounts to a demolition of the old order, consider digital platforms the bulldozers. By allowing producers and consumers to connect with unprecedented ease and immediacy, they have shaken entire industries to their foundations. Some examples: Taxi medallions in New York City have lost more than half their value in just a few years, owing primarily to competition from Uber and Lyft. In a recent Morgan Stanley survey, 49 percent of Airbnb guests said they had specifically chosen the home-sharing platform over a traditional hotel stay.
