Over on Publishing 2.0, Scott Karp wonders if Media 2.0 will be less profitable than Media 1.0. I think it will be. While the cost to produce and distribute content on the Internet is much cheaper than print, people value online content differently. There is a dichotomy between what people are willing to pay for in a bookstore and what they are willing to pay for online. Exact same content, but valued differently.

This is one of the issues that has traditional publishers scared to death of internet publishing. Why would they want to venture into unchartered territory and make big bets on something that will likely be less profitable than what they are doing today? This is a classic example of a disruptive technology in action.