Anything that gets more people reading more books is a positive in my opinion, but I'm still disturbed by the idea that ebooks are acceptable alternatives to physical books overall.
If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it.
But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books die as physical objects, then I can't begin to express the sadness and loss I feel.
The joy that comes from holding a book in my hands that I know was read and held by my grandfather years ago is irreplaceable. So is the beauty of a well-designed book, from the paper choices to the typography to the feel of the spine in my hand. And of course, the conversations that flow from seeing the title of a book someone's reading, or browsing their bookshelves at home.
The very lack of technology in a book preserves their integrity against the strong temptations of adding sounds, animations, interactivity, advertising, even video. It's easy to imagine a world in the not so distant future where the idea of reading just words alone is sneered at as primitive and boring.
I get your point, but as a counterpoint consider this: my mother's cousin recently scanned a picture of my grandmother and her brothers (one of whom was the cousin's father) as babies, along with many other old family photos. I posted the scans on Facebook, so now everyone in the extended family (dozens of nieces, nephews, cousins, what have you) can see them. The pic of my grandmother is around 85 years old. Is the original photo a precious object, worthy of cherishing? Certainly (and obviously, given that it's survived all this time). But, you know, it was her precious object alone. Now all of us can see the picture any time we want. This is GOOD.
Is a first edition of Robinson Crusoe a precious object? Of course. It's also (I'm guessing) quite rare and extremely expensive. Yet anyone with a Kindle or Nook (or even a computer) can get Robinson Crusoe from Project Gutenberg for free. Most of the PG audience isn't going to be able to afford a library full of fine leather-bound books. The choice isn't between the fine leather-bound book and the etext. It's between the etext and not being able to read the book at all.
We've seen this play out in many other areas. Mass-produced clothing is another example -- is it as nice as individually-tailored clothing? Nope. But most of us can't afford a wardrobe full of custom-tailored stuff (and historically, people didn't; most folks had a set of "work clothes" and maybe one set of "Sunday clothes", if that).
For that matter, exactly the same scenario played out when the printing press was introduced. Esthetes decried the loss of the hand-written medieval volumes, lovingly calligraphed and illuminated by highly skilled scribe/artists. They were breathtakingly beautiful. One book also cost somewhere around a year's wages for a skilled worker.
I don't dispute anything in your first paragraph. The ability to preserve and distribute rare or unique documents and photos is amazing.
I'm not talking about rare books and antiquities, though. I'm talking about something far more common and mundane, and (to me at least) far more special.
The books I've inherited from my grandfather are not precious or valuable to anyone but me. They're precious because I know I'm touching the pages he touched, and when I come across the notes he's made in the margins, they're in his hand, written with the pen I remember watching him use when I was a child.
Most of us can't afford to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on rare books. But most of us can afford a couple dollars for a paperback at the used book store—even those of us who can't spend the $80-$200 that the OP calls "cheap" for a Kindle.
This is one of the reasons I like ebooks for their convenience and ability to be widely distributed, but I would be devastated to see them replace bound books as the only choice.
We're seeing the way that movie and music companies are eager to trample over consumers in the name of protecting their copyrights. Do we really want to turn books into something that can only be read if you have the right device to display them? I don't trust Amazon, Apple, or anyone else to be the gatekeeper of my books. I want the ability to turn my back on them if they start editing, deleting, or censoring books. I want to be able to say "fine, then, I'll just go to the store and get a real book, and your Kindle can suck it."
Some of my worries seem almost silly today, but we've seen too many things go from far-fetched to reality in a generation or less.
Fair enough -- the transient nature of electronic media kind of short changes the human nature of existing in a physical world.
I have to say, I'm still pessimistic about bound books however. Perhaps future generations will be reading old books on their grandfather's Kindle and looking at old notes recorded on it -- interesting thought -- kind of bizarre to think about, even in this age.
But you'd be lucky if the ebook hardware keeps working even a decade after your death. And there's no way to inherit your grandfather's books to use them on another reader; he owned a license to read them and it's not transferrable when he dies.
This one aspect of the lack of ownership that I find problematic, but you don't see discussed as much. The way things are going, you won't even be able to inherit someone's kitchen table because they'd bought a $500 license for their immediate family to eat off of it. Died? Factory repossesses it.
I hate reading novels in paper form. Each of the books in the Game of Thrones series is 1000 pages long. Holding a super fat book in your hands is not pleasant. You have to break the spine to keep it from closin. You need to physically rotate the book as you move from the left to the right page. It's heavy and cumbersome. Urgh.
Reading on a tablet type device meanwhile is a dream. Thin, lightweight. I hold the device the same for every page at both the start and end of the book. I can comfortably hold it with one hand even.
Being able to look up definitions is wonderfully useful. If you're on an ipad a quick internet search can be incredibly useful. I just read a Clash of Kings (sequel to Game of Thrones). I regularly looked up characters to refresh my memory on what they did or what they looked like (from the TV series).
When it comes to novels I would be quite happy to never hold a dead tree again. I much prefer burning dead dinosaurs.
Yep, lots of great devices for reading novels which are each great in different situations. What I haven't found yet is a good replacement for text books or academic resources. The readers are great for sequential reading but not so good for anything that requires for chaotically flipping back and forth across hundreds of pages.
IMO, the only way for physical books to exists alongside ebooks is by bundling the ebook with the physical book, similar to movies. It baffles me why publishers haven't already done this, but then again...publishers aren't the brightest people.
Some publishers offer the ebook + physical book combo for less than buying them separately. For example, you can get the following deal on a particular book from O'Reilly:
The fact the ebook costs more than the print book is just laughable. It reminds me of Ticketmaster's "delivery fee" that they charge when you print tickets at home.
This is the missing piece for me. I still want to own the physical book, but I would love the convenience of being able to load a bunch of books on my Kindle and take it on a trip or something.
Plus, think of the lock-in that the stores are missing out on. As a Kindle owner, if Amazon offered me bundles, I would probably never buy another book at Barnes & Noble.
I feel the same way about this. It makes me sad and I can't even envisage getting a reader. As the obvious target for this kind of gift (techie that loves reading), I have asked all my friends and family to not even think about getting one for me. I dream of having a whole room full of books, a confortable sofa and a fire place in the future!
One of my fears is that digital books will change people's reading habits, by having too much choice available instantly it seems too tempting to start many at once and not finish any. With time this could result in books & stories becoming shorter and this can't be a good thing.
I do however realise that these feelings of mine do not make much sense and that one day, when the book I want to read isn't available in a physical form, I will have to surrender and get the digital version. I agree that that day will be a sad one, but many people felt (and still feel) that way about vinyls, and it hasn't prevented the mass from evolving and embracing the new capabilities of the new formats.
I can imagine a future where the books as we know them now are just one specific (and old fashioned) way to tell a story, in a world full of other formats and possibilities. I believe that change must not be feared and as long as the whole world doesn't go crazy, we should be fine :-)
Yes, they will coexist. Physical books will always exist just like film cameras and ham radio, for both nostalgia and timeless quality. Bookshelves have their virtual counterparts. Movies haven't killed books and video games haven't killed movies. Libraries may largely become museums.
Pure information like a book has to go the digital route--there are too many advantages, practically, economically, environmentally. And many would cite the lack of chrome and physical presence of a Kindle an aesthetic advantage over books.
Most of these, with the possible exception of the feel of the book in your hand can be replicated by an ebook.
Not ebooks in their current state, of course, but by a hypothetical electronic book that has more capability. I suspect paper books will become like vinyl, hobbyists and retro obsessed will still have a lot, but most people will only keep a few for sentimental reasons (e.g. your grandfather).
There are some great ideas here for anyone who wants to take advantage of them:
- Add drawing support and overdrawing/highlighting to the ereader (this should be there now, lord knows why it isn't).
- Put a display on the back of the ereader so people can see the title of what you're reading. This sounds terribly egotistical, but so is twitter, and it's not doing too bad :-)
- Use a (very: e.g. 8'x4') large picture frame/bookcase display to show all the books (and media and art and whatever else) you currently have in your living room or study or whatnot. The technology is not quite up to doing this at scale, but I can see it happening. I do think a human friendly way to browse media not tied to a remote control or sitting down in front of a rectangle or peering through the aperture of a handheld device will be a majorly successful consumer electronic device in the future.
I also don't think that ebooks will somehow demote text-only to secondary status. After all, what do you think you're reading now? :-) Even if you look at the web in general, the best sites (for reading) have text as the backbone, and if they have other media, it's more about supporting the text with a diagram or an example -- not a stage or a soundtrack.
I'd say it probably doesn't really replicate the feel because human tactile sense is so subtle, but it's cool to know these exist! I might pick one up.
Even without the romanticism of reading, there's one thing I can't do with a Kindle book, that I greatly enjoy doing:
Lending it to other people.
It doesn't matter how many fucking awful Facebook plugins you write, there is nothing as convenient as "Have you read [X]? I have a copy, here, let me get it."
Until I can lend my Kindle books to people - with no restrictions, I will continue buying physical books.
To be fair, recommending a book to someone is easier now in a different way, with ebook readers. You can gift them the book or they can buy the book right there on their Kindle, without having to go to a store and locate a physical copy. This is part, though certainly not the entire appeal of being lent a book - reducing the friction of reading something you were recommended. It's just gotten more expensive to do this now.
Agreed. I might have considered putting up with that if the e-books were significantly cheaper. Then, I would just buy copies for family/friends. But this isn't the case and it's just simpler to read a book and give/mail it to family/friends.
If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it.
But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books die as physical objects, then I can't begin to express the sadness and loss I feel.
The joy that comes from holding a book in my hands that I know was read and held by my grandfather years ago is irreplaceable. So is the beauty of a well-designed book, from the paper choices to the typography to the feel of the spine in my hand. And of course, the conversations that flow from seeing the title of a book someone's reading, or browsing their bookshelves at home.
The very lack of technology in a book preserves their integrity against the strong temptations of adding sounds, animations, interactivity, advertising, even video. It's easy to imagine a world in the not so distant future where the idea of reading just words alone is sneered at as primitive and boring.
Is there anyone that can offer any optimism?