For Real? Google To Discontinue Printed Frommer’s Guides. Guess I Should Have Seen That Coming.
I’m sure this is not big news for some travelers, but my first reaction was, “Well, that kinda sucks.” I read about this first on the Open Suitcase, and was really a bit surprised. Sure, print media is dying. But, I had to figure there was still a market for these books. It’s expensive to walk around a foreign country using the internet to pull down this type of information. And, while that may not always be the case, it’s still going to be that way for a while yet.
While I’ve always been more of a Fodor’s guy, I have bought my fair share of Frommer’s guides over the years. There was always something I enjoyed about getting a guide-book for a new place a few months before a trip and getting buried in it, learning little bits and pieces I didn’t know ahead of time. That’s just what I did on our most recent Panama trip. There were at least 2 or 3 things I wouldn’t have known about prior to heading out on our trip that I was able to glean from my book.
Alas, that’s not meant to be, at least as far as Frommer’s is concerned. You can read a bit more about the demise here, but it ain’t pretty.
Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but definitely a bit of a downer.
The billionaires at google obviously don’t know how prohibitively expensive international roaming is for the rest of us.
Paul S, chuckle. BTW, it really does surprise me that the print editions couldn’t be constructed in a way to make money. Reduce print runs, reduce titles, something. If there was a problem did they really need to euthanize the patient instead of trying to prescribe some aspirin for the patient?
Here’s some good news for you: The paper versions of the books are on their way back. Google says, “We can confirm that we have returned the Frommer’s brand to its founder and are licensing certain travel content to him.”
http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/04/arthur-frommer-takes-back-brand-from-google-will-keep-guidebook/
Thanks, Charlie. That is good news!