What place do books have in the future of publishing?

Ev Williams i am curious to hear your perspective on this question:

How do you see traditional hardcover print of long form books fitting into the landscape of publishing ideas in the short term future?

As you comment above it’s a multi-billion dollar industry. Yet the barrier to entry to earn a living as a writer by receiving a book deal in the publishing industry (in the non fiction genre) seems to be “attention” and not quality of ideas. I have not tried, but my gut says that it is possible to share an idea that is about the length of a manuscript. Medium seems to be the place you can go to share these ideas quickly, and yes I do agree that distribution of an idea through Medium is greater than a website you share yourself. The flip side of that is, the ability to self publish long form books already exists and there is a market who follows the model to print physical books on demand. So with good economics it makes more sense for those interested in making a living in that space to publish books themselves. I believe you commented once on your vision for creating Medium being in the white space of creating your own website/blog and getting a book deal. I think this is a critical piece of that market. Would love to hear your thoughts Ev Williams