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498 lines
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[2]People[3]Influence[4]Lifestyle[5]Watches & Jewellery
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[9]Sign up for our newsletter for the latest business lifestyle stories!
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[11]People
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The Business of Empathy — The CEO of Kobo believes books can save us
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Rakuten Kobo’s Michael Tamblyn believes that in an age of fragmented attention,
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books remain the deepest form of human connection.
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By [12]Zat Astha / 24 Mar 2025
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[53a6cfa2df7924e6ddb2126a2c60bc7d93ca1bc72aa81f79684beafef48619e8]
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[13]Business Leaders
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Share this article
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[14][15][16][17][18]
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In a spacious conference room overlooking the bustling heart of Singapore’s
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Raffles Place, Michael Tamblyn leans forward slightly, relaxed. The deep-red
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carpet beneath him lends warmth to the otherwise sleek, corporate setting,
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framing the scene for a conversation rich with introspection. It’s perfectly
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evident that he’s accustomed to grappling with big questions. As the CEO of
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Rakuten Kobo, a global giant in the digital reading sphere, Tamblyn navigates
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daily through a paradox at the very heart of modern readership: how to draw
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readers away from the addictive pull of social media and streaming platforms —
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and yet simultaneously leverage those same platforms to rekindle the world’s
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waning love affair with books.
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“We’re definitely fighting for time,” the music graduate (Tamblyn has a degree
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in music composition from Wilfrid Laurier University) acknowledges, his voice
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steady and earnest. The competitive landscape he describes extends far beyond
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traditional rivals like Google, Apple, or Amazon. Instead, Kobo finds itself
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wrestling with entities designed explicitly to monetise and fragment our focus
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— platforms like YouTube, Netflix, TikTok, whose business models depend on
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endless scrolling and binge-watching. “These platforms have figured out how to
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put a price tag on time,” he continues. “We constantly compete for attention,
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striving to remind people that books are not only a valuable part of their
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lives but also an inherently interesting one.”
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The irony isn’t lost on him, however. As readers’ attention fragments, the very
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platforms drawing their gaze away from books are paradoxically fuelling a
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resurgence of literary enthusiasm. Enter BookTok, the wildly popular TikTok
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subculture where young influencers passionately recommend, dissect, and promote
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their favourite reads. “Sometimes we compete, and sometimes the social media
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world actually helps us,” Tamblyn notes, a wry smile hinting at the curious
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nature of this symbiosis. “People are discovering books through the same
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channels that typically divert their attention away from deeper reading.”
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Indeed, ask any contemporary publisher, and they’ll express gratitude for this
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unexpected alliance with influencers. BookTok stars regularly catapult
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overlooked novels onto bestseller lists, breathing fresh life into literary
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classics and propelling unknown authors into the spotlight overnight.
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But Tamblyn sees beyond temporary spikes in popularity. For him, the crucial
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task is retention. “Our job, as creators of the reading experience, is to
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stretch out that captured moment as far as we possibly can,” he explains. “Once
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someone has a book in front of them, everything else must fade away.”
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Still, achieving this goal isn’t straightforward. It requires a blend of
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technological innovation, insightful marketing, and sheer enthusiasm for
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storytelling. Tamblyn knows that to successfully game the ecosystem of
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attention, Kobo must outsmart it.
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It’s why the company innovates tirelessly, from elegantly designed e-readers to
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intuitive digital storefronts, all engineered to make the act of reading
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seamless and captivating. Tamblyn compares these innovations to islands in a
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stormy sea of digital distractions. “We’re creating spaces where the world
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quiets down, allowing the reader to step inside a story entirely,” he reflects.
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This thoughtful integration of technology, carefully balanced with the
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authentic magic of storytelling, is how Tamblyn envisions winning the attention
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battle. For him, books are neither relics nor mere commodities; they are
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necessary sanctuaries in a fragmented online landscape. “People genuinely crave
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deeper stories,” he insists. “They want compelling characters; they want the
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opportunity to step away from constant distraction.”
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From small-town shelves to a global bookstore
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Long before Tamblyn sat at the helm of a digital powerhouse like Rakuten Kobo,
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his passion for books was sparked within the humble aisles of a small-town
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bookstore in rural Canada. This modest shop was Tamblyn’s gateway to the wider
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world. “The nearest town was a half-hour drive away,” Tamblyn recalls warmly.
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“But the most interesting store for me there was the bookstore — we were lucky
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to have one. I just thought it was the most fascinating place ever.”
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For Tamblyn, stepping through the bookstore’s threshold was transformative.
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Each shelf offered adventures that stretched far beyond the rural landscapes he
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knew. Fantasy, history, literature, poetry — he devoured everything. Tolkien’s
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richly woven worlds, epic historical accounts, and lyrical explorations of
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human emotion filled his imagination. “We had some good libraries where I grew
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up, and some good librarians who would nudge you in different directions when
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you’d read too much of one thing,” he remembers fondly. “They’d say, ‘Maybe you
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want to try this instead?’ I just couldn’t get enough of it.”
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Those early years of voracious reading did more than nourish Tamblyn’s
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curiosity; they instilled a profound respect for the magic of books. It is
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within those tales that the former CEO of supply chain agency, BookNet Canada,
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wonders of endless possibilities contained within pages — something he would
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later strive to replicate on a global scale with Kobo. “In some ways, I’m still
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that child,” Tamblyn admits, his voice tinged with genuine affection. “Every
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day, I walk through the door and work with books, authors, and people who love
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reading. It all comes back to that feeling — stepping into a room filled with
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ideas, more than you could ever grasp.”
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Established in Toronto in [19]2009, Kobo (a delightful anagram of the word
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“book”) began as a modest startup with a bold vision: to revolutionise how the
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world reads. Acquired in 2012 by Tokyo-based Rakuten Group, Kobo quickly grew
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into a global digital bookstore powerhouse, rivalling giants such as Amazon.
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Today, Kobo boasts millions of users worldwide, offering a catalogue of over
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seven million eBooks and audiobooks, accessible anytime, anywhere, on nearly
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any device.
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[28ac5a4dc18a47567a006b09ed9f0b7b92939658b74ccebf04d827d8d3535fe0]
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L-R: Serene Chong, Project Manager of Travellution Media, Ken Tan, Publisher of
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Mentor Publishing, Julian Chou, General Manager of Rakuten Kobo Asia, Denon
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Lim, President and Chief Editor of Lingzi Media, Michael Tamblyn, CEO of
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Rakuten Kobo, Hironori Shimada, Director of Rakuten Asia, Maureen Ho, Chief
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Editor of Focus Publishing, and Min Wei Lee, Division Manager of Ingram Micro
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Photo: Rakuten Kobo
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In March 2025, Kobo made a strategic leap into the burgeoning digital-reading
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market in Asia by launching Kobo Plus in Singapore. This subscription-based
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service gives users unlimited access to a vast library of over two million
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eBooks and 300,000 audiobooks, starting from an accessible fee of just S$9.99
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per month. “With Kobo Plus, we’re making reading more accessible and flexible
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than ever, giving book lovers the freedom to explore a diverse catalogue
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without limits,” Tamblyn explains.
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The significance of Kobo’s Asian expansion isn’t lost on Tamblyn. As smartphone
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usage and digital content consumption surge in Asia, Kobo’s strategy taps
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directly into a new generation’s appetite for affordability, accessibility, and
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convenience. “eBooks have never been more popular in Singapore,” Tamblyn notes
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enthusiastically, attributing this trend to evolving reading habits and a
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digital-first mindset among younger readers. Kobo’s arrival in Singapore is
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thus timely, aligning perfectly with a regional shift towards digital
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storytelling.
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“Everything we do, from product design to the reading experience itself, is
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about creating spaces where stories flourish,” Tamblyn reflects. His voice
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carries a quiet pride as he considers Kobo’s journey from a small Canadian
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startup to an influential global brand. “Back then, I walked into a little
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bookstore, in a little town, feeling I’d never read everything inside it,” he
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recalls. “Now, we have millions of books in numerous languages. That feeling of
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endless possibility exists on a scale I could never have imagined, yet the
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magic is stronger now than it ever was.”
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Why we still read
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In an age dominated by rapid-fire digital content and algorithm-driven
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engagement, one might wonder why anyone still reaches for a book. Yet,
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according to Tamblyn, the reasons for reading today have grown more profound.
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“I think it’s still the most immersive form of media that exists. The most
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beautiful pictures, the most incredible scenes, are always the ones you make in
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your own mind. Nothing creates that experience better than books do.”
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And despite predictions heralding the demise of reading with each passing
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generation, books continue to attract fresh, eager cohorts of readers. “Every
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decade, every generation, we hear that this is the generation that’s going to
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stop reading,” Tamblyn notes with mild amusement. “And yet every generation, we
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get a new cohort of people who find books they love, that they’re just so
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passionate about — even though you have the best-funded, most aggressive
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companies doing everything they can to pull your focus somewhere else.”
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Indeed, despite the relentless allure of visually stunning video games,
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binge-worthy television series, and endless scrolls through social feeds,
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readers still turn to books. Tamblyn sees this as evidence of something
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uniquely human. “Even with everything the gaming industry has advanced, even
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with everything the film and video industry has created, people still come back
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to this very simple media,” he reflects thoughtfully. “Because there’s nothing,
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I think, that immerses you longer or deeper than a book does.”
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Books, Tamblyn believes, not only entertain; they challenge perspectives, and
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deepen our understanding of others. “Stories build empathy — we know this,” he
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insists passionately. “It puts you into another person’s experience. It lets
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you imagine different ways of living beyond the one you have right now.”
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At its heart, Tamblyn argues, reading fosters a kind of psychological and
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emotional generosity that’s increasingly vital in a fragmented society. “On the
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non-fiction side, it lets you go deeper into an idea than a 20-second video
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ever could,” he continues earnestly. “It lets you go further into an argument
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or a concept than you can in 400 characters. And that’s what we need more of.”
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The simplicity and depth of books then become a counterpoint to today’s
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rapid-fire culture, where brevity often eclipses depth.
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Reading as an act of resistance
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[9d814a006d70691ed0d2e743251920f9c1e6f763049c4a7c610b7ea818179272]
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Photo: Rakuten Kobo
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When reflecting on the inherent value of books as opposed to other forms of
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digital media, Tamblyn underscores the unique way reading allows sustained,
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uninterrupted exploration. “Once you’ve decided to start reading, no one is
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trying to intervene until you get to the very end of the book,” he observes,
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clearly energised by this idea. He contrasts this sharply with digital media’s
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strategic interruptions, where attention is systematically sliced, packaged,
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and sold. “There are lots of actors in the media world right now that want to
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slice your focus into tiny pieces,” he says. “Books, in a way, are the opposite
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of that.”
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It is why Tamblyn believes that preserving books as a medium isn’t just
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cultural nostalgia — it’s a societal imperative. “The idea that we can put
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ourselves into other people’s lives and understand what those lives are like,
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and that we can dig deep into ideas instead of just living on their surface, is
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more important now than it’s ever been,” he stresses. His concern is that as a
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society, we must safeguard this profound form of engagement, lest we lose the
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capacity for meaningful understanding altogether.
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When pressed to share a recent personal reading experience that resonated
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deeply, Tamblyn describes being profoundly affected by a book titled [20]
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Natural History of Vacant Lots by Matthew F. Vessel and Herbert H. Wong. His
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voice softens with appreciation as he recounts the narrative. “It’s about these
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abandoned spaces — vacant lots, places people left behind — and how nature
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fights its way back into these places humans left behind,” he recalls. “There
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was something about that idea that felt both stark and yet hopeful. Grounded
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very much in the world we’re actually living in right now.” For Tamblyn, the
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book’s power lay in its quiet authenticity, capturing the raw but hopeful
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tension between humanity and nature. “There’s genuine hope in that tension — an
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opportunity for growth, discovery, and renewal,” he muses. “There was just
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something about the writing itself that hit me at a deeper level than most
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books usually do.”
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“We’ve managed to hold onto this idea — that it’s good to gain a deeper
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understanding of an idea, or to let yourself fall into a story,” Tamblyn
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concludes quietly yet firmly. “We don’t want people turning away from the idea
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that reading is a good thing. When you can no longer put yourself in somebody
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else’s shoes, when you can no longer go deeply into an idea — that’s when we
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really start to get into trouble.”
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His words resonate clearly, serving as both caution and invitation. Perhaps we
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still read precisely because, deep down, we know that without stories, we risk
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losing ourselves. In a world constantly shifting, polarisation grows, and
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empathy seems to diminish, Tamblyn argues that books provide essential
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grounding. They encourage reflection and understanding, qualities vital to
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navigating modern life. And perhaps most importantly, books remind us of our
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shared humanity.
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Navigating a changing industry
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Today, Tamblyn is acutely aware that the literary world he loves is navigating
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increasingly turbulent waters. He leans back, carefully weighing his words as
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he discusses the critical shifts occurring within book publishing and
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bookselling — shifts that demand strategic agility from Rakuten Kobo and
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vigilance from the industry at large.
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“One big thing is consolidation,” Tamblyn explains. “We have fewer companies
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getting bigger. Big companies are swallowing smaller ones.” He notes how this
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creates a troubling uniformity in publishing: fewer editors and publishers are
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left making critical decisions about which books see the light of day. “We have
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five big English-language publishers (Penguin Random House, HarperCollins,
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Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette Book Group) right now, and they’re
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growing by acquiring smaller publishers, each of whom might have had a very
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different idea about what a book could be or the kinds of authors you should
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nurture.”
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Yet, even within this concern lies opportunity. Tamblyn’s tone shifts subtly,
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becoming more hopeful as he discusses the rise of self-publishing and
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independent publishing. “As the mainstream publishing world becomes more
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consolidated, the independent publishing world becomes even more lively,” he
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asserts. For Kobo, this energetic and expansive independent scene is
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foundational. “Those two things hang in balance,” he observes. Kobo’s own
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self-publishing platform, [21]Kobo Writing Life, provides independent authors
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access to a global marketplace, bypassing traditional gatekeepers entirely.
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“What we find when we go out into the self-published world is there are lots of
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authors writing books people really want to read, who’ve never been able to get
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through traditional publishing barriers,” he explains. “And now, they don’t
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have to. They can use platforms like ours to directly reach millions of
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readers, and those readers are there, actively looking for them.”
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[hqdefault]Play
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But while self-publishing offers exciting prospects, it presents unique
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challenges too. When asked about advice for aspiring self-published authors,
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Tamblyn pauses thoughtfully. “To say you’re self-publishing is really to say
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you’re taking on all the jobs of a publisher for yourself,” he cautions.
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“Instead of just being an author who’s putting a book into the world, you’re
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really becoming a publisher of one.”
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He stresses that independent publishing requires authors to master marketing,
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audience building, and promotional strategies, tasks traditionally handled by
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entire publishing teams. “Some authors love that,” Tamblyn acknowledges,
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smiling. “They love the control, the direct engagement with their readership,
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working with cover designers. But some just want to write. For those who just
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want to write, self-publishing can feel like they’re constantly being pulled
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away from the thing they love most.” It’s a tension that defines the modern
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publishing landscape — authors torn between autonomy and support, personal
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voice versus traditional validation.
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Another significant challenge Tamblyn identifies is the dominance of powerful
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retailers, whose growing influence risks limiting diversity in readers’
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choices. “We have some very dominant companies that want to become even more
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dominant,” Tamblyn explains carefully. “Considering books can be an antidote to
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extremism, the last thing we want is for people to find books through just one
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algorithm or search box. You don’t want single points of control. You want lots
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of different people selling books in lots of different ways.”
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This, Tamblyn believes, is safeguarding intellectual diversity. “You never want
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one single retailer deciding whether a book should find a market or reach an
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audience. You need lots of people working on that all the time.” It’s a
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conviction that Kobo itself embodies, striving to maintain a balanced, open
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digital marketplace where varied voices flourish without centralised
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constraints.
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Amid these industry dynamics, the perpetual battle for readers’ heart and mind
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remains a relentless challenge. “We can never assume people will just wake up
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one morning and decide to read,” Tamblyn says firmly. “Especially when there
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are so many other things competing for their attention. We have to be just as
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aggressive about putting books in front of people as other companies are about
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pulling them away.”
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For Kobo, meeting this challenge involves constant innovation. Recently, Kobo
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expanded its subscription service Kobo Plus, launching it in Singapore to
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capture the burgeoning Asian digital market. With subscription plans offering
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unlimited access to millions of eBooks and audiobooks at affordable prices,
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Kobo positions itself directly in response to evolving reader habits and
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expectations.
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[hqdefault]Play
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Kobo’s continuous technological evolution is equally central to Tamblyn’s
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vision. Their latest range of eReaders — devices like Kobo Libra Colour, Kobo
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Clara, and Kobo Sage — feature innovations such as waterproofing, ComfortLight
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PRO for reduced eye strain, and intuitive page-turn buttons, all meticulously
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designed to foster immersive, comfortable reading experiences. “Ultimately,
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it’s technology in the service of reading,” Tamblyn emphasises. “It’s
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industrial design in the service of reading. It’s software development in the
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service of reading.”
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Navigating the complexities of the contemporary publishing industry is
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undoubtedly challenging. Yet Tamblyn seems energised by these very challenges.
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Each obstacle, he implies, creates room for innovation; each limitation invites
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creative solutions. And as Tamblyn surveys the complexities ahead, it becomes
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clear that he views Kobo as both a participant and a proactive steward of
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reading culture, committed to preserving books as accessible, vital spaces of
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imagination and connection — even amidst an industry experiencing profound
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transformation.
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The future of words
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Looking ahead into the evolving landscape of storytelling, Tamblyn sees a
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future where creativity and technology will blend in ways both exhilarating and
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challenging. Nowhere is this clearer — or perhaps more controversial — than in
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the growing presence of artificial intelligence within the literary world.
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“What AI has done for me is put a spotlight on the value of ideas and the value
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of words,” Tamblyn observes, “while at the same time highlighting how some
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people really just see words as raw material.”
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Tamblyn’s perspective on AI is cautiously optimistic, yet deeply nuanced. He
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readily acknowledges the flood of AI-generated content that increasingly
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inundates platforms, including Kobo’s own self-publishing division, Kobo
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Writing Life. “We’re currently inundated by a river of AI-generated stuff, most
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of which is terrible,” he admits laughing. For Kobo, managing this influx of
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low-quality AI content has become both a logistical and philosophical
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challenge. “We don’t want people to have to filter through lots of bad content
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to find the good,” Tamblyn continues. “That means figuring out how to detect
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AI-generated content, sometimes using AI itself, which is its own challenge.”
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[hqdefault]Play
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Yet, for all its challenges, Tamblyn remains intrigued by the genuine
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possibilities AI offers to serious writers. Far from dismissing AI entirely, he
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anticipates it becoming an invaluable tool in the writer’s toolkit, reshaping
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the creative process itself. “We also know there are authors who are going to
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use AI as a tool — maybe as a research assistant, or as a way to collect and
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organise thoughts so they can produce bigger, more important works more
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easily,” he explains. “It might let them spend more time on the words
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themselves rather than collecting all the information behind it.” Today,
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Tamblyn imagines a future where AI quietly facilitates richer literary work,
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streamlining cumbersome processes without diminishing the originality and depth
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of human creativity. “We can safely assume that’s already happening — that many
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writers now have something sitting off to the side helping organise their text,
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collating research, or maybe handling a passage they can’t quite get right,”
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Tamblyn suggests. “Throwing it into the AI to see if the alternative feels
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better.”
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But what about the fear that AI might eventually replace human authors
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entirely? “All these various AI techniques are fundamentally predictive by
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nature,” he points out. “They’re about creating works based on the average of
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all the works they’ve seen before. New writing and new literature, on the other
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hand, is always about stepping ahead of that — creating something you’ve never
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seen before. That’s directly in opposition to how an LLM functions.” In this
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crucial distinction, Tamblyn finds comfort — and confidence — that AI, while
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powerful, ultimately complements rather than threatens authentic creativity.
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“That fundamental idea of creativity is still, I think, the thing that
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relegates AI to a tool rather than a replacement for real writing,” he asserts.
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Still, he doesn’t entirely rule out the possibility that something genuinely
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groundbreaking could emerge from an AI-driven collaboration. “Any time you put
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an artist in front of a new tool, they’re going to find ways to do something
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interesting,” Tamblyn acknowledges. “We’ll end up selling it, and we probably
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won’t even realise it until the author puts up their hand and says, ‘Listen,
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here’s how I made this.’”
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||
Tamblyn reflects briefly, adding a practical note: the economics of
|
||
AI-generated literature remain challenging. “Oddly enough, what seems to
|
||
protect us from that right now is the cost of generating it,” he observes. “The
|
||
computing power required is so expensive, and the amount of money you can
|
||
actually make off a book is so small, that the gap is currently too wide.”
|
||
|
||
Choosing the reader, every time
|
||
|
||
As he peers further into Kobo’s future, Tamblyn reveals a guiding principle
|
||
that grounds every strategic decision the company makes — one anchored firmly
|
||
in his dual identity as both technologist and devoted bibliophile. “If we ever
|
||
have to make a decision — if we ever have to choose between two paths — we
|
||
always ask: what’s the thing that’s going to make a person’s reading life
|
||
better?” he explains earnestly. “We look at that person who’s really put books
|
||
at the centre of their life and choose the path that will make that person’s
|
||
reading experience more enjoyable.”
|
||
|
||
Ultimately, Tamblyn’s vision for Kobo — and the broader literary world — is one
|
||
where technology disappears seamlessly into the reading experience, empowering
|
||
readers rather than distracting them. “We really win when the book takes over,
|
||
when the author’s words take over, and all the technology and design fade
|
||
away,” he says with quiet conviction. “If we can do that, then we’ve done
|
||
something truly impressive.”
|
||
|
||
His optimism extends beyond the bounds of Kobo and into a broader hope for
|
||
society. Despite pervasive cynicism and an increasingly polarised digital
|
||
landscape, Tamblyn believes that humanity’s inherent creative impulse remains
|
||
resilient and powerful. “We, as a species, have this impulse towards
|
||
creativity, towards goodness and kindness that’s really hard to stamp out,” he
|
||
reflects. “Even though we have a media landscape encouraging us to focus
|
||
constantly on the negative, there are interesting, hopeful, optimistic things
|
||
happening all around us all the time — if we can just pay heed to them.”
|
||
|
||
Tamblyn pauses. “So much of the work now, I think, in being a conscious person
|
||
in the world, is about being disciplined about where we put our attention,
|
||
instead of just letting it be managed for us.”
|
||
|
||
As our interview draws to a close, Tamblyn’s hopeful gaze turns towards a
|
||
literary future rich with possibility, tempered by thoughtful caution. The path
|
||
forward as he paints it is one of mindful innovation — of harnessing technology
|
||
without losing sight of humanity. For Michael Tamblyn, the future of words is
|
||
bright, precisely because it remains, unmistakably, human.
|
||
|
||
[25]Business Leaders
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