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Since January 1974, new mobile homes have been required to have ground fault interrupter breakers for all exterior outlets. This sensitive circuit breaker deals with three kinds of circuit trouble. (1) The breaker opens—that is, it disconnects the circuit—if there’s an overload from too many appliances or from a short in an appliance or between circuit wires. (2) A break in the ground return wire of the circuit also trips this kind of breaker.
(3) Most important, the ground fault interrupter detects a ground that’s not part of the normal circuit. For an example, imagine you’re using one of your electrical tools outside and it develops a short between the hot wire and the handle of the tool. When you turn the tool on, your body forms an extra ground path for the electric current. You’d receive a terrible shock or be electrocuted—except for this new type of breaker. This device senses the abnormal grounding (through your body) and kicks off the power to the circuit. It trips when unnatural ground current reaches 5 milli amps. A strong heart can withstand 15 to 20 milli amps briefly without serious harm. The special breaker cuts power before you hardly feel a thing. You’re saved. Whenever this kind of breaker kicks out, replace the tool or appliance or have it repaired before you plug it in again.

In the past decade or so, the publishing industry has been confronted with powerful new competitors. For example, mountains of information and entertainment now stream into readers’ homes as a result of the emergence of the Internet and the explosive expansion of cable television. Access has become easy and virtually universal because it leapfrogs boundaries. In the process, it’s changed the culture.
Simultaneously, the book-publishing industry has gone through massive changes. It has consolidated dramatically. Imprints that were formerly rivals are now sister companies and partners. Standardized, corporate organizational practices have replaced looser, more hands—on, family-oriented operations. Book publishing has also benefited from waves of technical innovations that have impacted virtually every aspect of the business, including how books are printed, distributed, and sold.
Picture today’s book-publishing industry as a sharply pointed triangle. The narrow top of the triangle contains a handful of players, while the bottom portion is densely packed. As the triangle rises, the mass of publishing companies thins.