We love and hate the Internet mainly because it’s been so cheap to use. But perhaps, like me, your tech costs have shot up, or your tech keeps breaking. Perhaps you feel more and more disappointed that technology always over-promises and under-delivers. We’re reckoning with the fact that we get what we pay for.

On the Electric Book Works website, I have a new post on the rising costs of publishing technology, in which I unpack what happened, and what it means for publishing decision-makers.

I explain the main reasons we’ve seen a surge in technology costs in recent years:

• Investors need a return
• Open-source dependencies demand attention
• Platforms evolve
• As regulation evolves, the paperwork comes due
• Social costs demand an ethical response
• User expectations keep getting higher
• Anxiety about IP requires legal expertise
• The content flood is infinite

And I say more about what this means for how we invest in tech in publishing. Head over to the EBW site to read the post, and find my thread on it on LinkedIn, where I’d love to hear what you think about these issues.