[DrNosferatu]

Exactly:

Today you expect the likelihood of a quality book title to be much higher from O’Reilly than, say, Packt Publishing.

With the advent of AI Generated Books, reputable sources will count more and more than they already do.

[mistrial9]

sure, nice dream. Dream on! but there are some practical aspects that you totally ignore in this PollyAnna summary. Categorical listing of "problems" can go on for pages, and will be incomplete. Perhaps a few to start it off?

* discernment requires effort.. someone has to make an effort, and do it effectively. In the city, time is money. Few to none in the "competitive retail markets" will seize the day to waste, making no money in discernment. Hollywood knows this for decades, and has many many ways to deal.

"She knew a good movie from a bad one, and knew how to sell both" was an epitaph for a crooked Hollywood agent, who was murdered by mobsters in her 50s not long ago...

* Publication incentives.. as noted many times here today, those who pay to advertise, do not have the incentives of discernment you are so confident in.

* Security by Obscurity -- in a blizzard of new publications with new incentive and cost structure, you will apparently find the perfect snowflakes to promote to other snowflake lovers? maybe.. for a minute.. but look! more snow

source: years in the book industry in a big University town before the Internet

[Vespasian]

I agree and hope for that as well. There is a chance that someone will start a "quality market place" with a high barrier to entry that may not be particularly comprehensive but "good".

Sure there would be the usual shenanigans when it comes to gatekeeping and objectivity but in the end it could still be valuable.