Richard Nile notes that in 2006 'a few million Australian workers are about to voluntarily leave their paid employment to be "unemployed at last". Among these are thousands of specialist researchers, writers and scholars, and hundreds of thousands of retiring professionals and aspiring intellectuals who hail from the first thoroughly educated generation in Australian history. That means we may be on the cusp of a golden era of Australian intellectual life.' In the light of this development, Nile reflects on the possibilities, particularly in the field of writing. He believes the web and print-on-demand books will contribute to a new ideas market.