Reflection of a wave in a closed basin

Maria Bustillos on what happens when distributors turn off the tap:

US libraries, universities, and bookstores rely for the delivery of books on a small number of very big profit-driven companies, many of them privately held, whose commitment to freedom of expression is at best uncertain. The list includes the Follett Corporation ($2.8 billion in annual revenues), Clarivate ($2.6 billion), EBSCO Industries ($3.1 billion), KKR ($22.7 billion), and Ingram Industries ($2.7 billion). Each of these companies represents a potential chokepoint for books and periodicals. They all exercise near-monopolistic control over a piece of the distribution chain, with the capacity to render whole catalogues of e-books inaccessible to library patrons, or to university students, or online book buyers, at the flick of a switch.

Jules Way on the future of knowledge in Electric by Chad Taylor:

'Of course they'll complain,' he said. 'They complain all the time. It doesn't matter. People used to be inspired to think, to change things, but not any more. Universities are outmoded. The thinking taught in these places is redundant. Academics won't admit that their time has passed, but it has. Corporations do the thinking now, and the military. That's where the real research is done. Everything else is navel-gazing. 

'People don't realise how they're being left behind and they don't care. They won't fight for it. And because of that, the universities will be gone. They'll wither and die. We'll import knowledge from other countries and corporations. Like lumber.'