The proverbial 'eBook' has been talked about for some time. Predicted by some to spell the end of paper books and give inexpensive access to millions of book titles for everyone.Early eBooks were plagued by short battery life (after all who wants to have to plug in your book to a wall outlet) and poor screen quality causing massive headaches and very strong squinting muscles. New players from Amazon and Sony have promised once again to put an end to print and paper. 'eInk' technology is what is supposed to sound this death knell; a screen that has 'as good or better' quality for your words and phrases and cliches than print and it only uses the battery when the screen changes pages so you can sit until your butt is black and blue and still have power to spare. Sounds great.
Maybe not.
First of all there's something strangely satisfying about hefting War and Peace or the Brothers Karamazov (Russian books, why not?) and turning each and every page from front to back. It's the difference between hiking up a mountain and driving up one. Both may be fun to some degree but you really miss that sense of accomplishment when all you have to do is push down the pedal and turn the steering wheel.
Next, do we really want the cost of publishing to go through the floor? My head goes reeling just walking in the door of Barnes and Noble or some other bookzilla store as it is. The sheer number of authors and titles is enough vertigo to make Emily Dickinson toss her tea and crumpets. Just imagine if you had the selection that you have in the blogosphere in the published book world. When I reach for a book about theology do I really want to reach out and get any old crazy who published whatever he wants? "Oh look at that, according to this 'scholar,' Jesus was really Mark Twain abducted by aliens in the tail of a near by comet in 1892. It must be true this is a published work."
This is the reason we have a system in place. Editors, publishers, costly printing processes, etc. The idiots out there need to remain safely in their obscurity having as little influence as possible.
But who knows, maybe we've lost the battle already. Heck, your reading this blog and the button below says 'Publish Post.' That must mean that I have something to say that deserves a hearing! Actually I'm just an idiot with nothing to say at all. At least, not anything that hasn't already been said.
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7 comments:
I wouldn't even say it's the sense of accomplishment so much as the comfort and familiarity. Like when everybody decides they don't like Vista and go back to their old software.
And I can't tell you how many times I've been flipping through my bible and happened to see a verse that I'd highlighted and re-read and I remember when it was that I studied it and what I was doing and what that verse means to me. You can't do that on an E-Bible.
I tried the e-book thing once. Thought it was pretty cool at the time. But now here I am, with about four paper books on my nightstand, and nary an e-book in sight.
To me, there's just no substitute for the printed word. When I'm kicking back on the couch with a hot cup of coffee and a book, I want to read a book, not a PDA or a laptop or an e-book reader. There's just something about the feel of a book; the heft, the size, the smell of the pages, the sound they make when you turn them...
Reading a book is an experience. E-books turn that experience into something clinical, technical. To me, they take the soul out of the book. It's like the difference between a real person and an automaton who looks, feels, and talks exactly like the real thing. It may even be programmed to laugh at your jokes, and tell a few of its own, but it's just not the same. It has no soul.
It might just be me. I'm willing to entertain that possibility.
Sergio said: "It might just be me. I'm willing to entertain that possibility."
The thing about this is that we're all people who have grown up in a world populated by books. In another thirty years, that might not be the case. Kids might not have the "familiarity" or know the "heft, the size, the smell of the pages". Those bonuses will carry little weight with them.
If, of course, the e-book gains a foothold. If it dies on the vine, though, then our world will remain safe.
Here's to hindering progress!
Bunce
Hear, hear!
One thing I learned in a Book Preservation class I took is that a book can last up to 500 years, whereas technology changes so quickly an ebook you read will be outdated in the next 5 years and won't work on the technology available.
It's just a matter of time before e-books become the standard means of discovering information. Standing in the way is just one generation and a fledgling technology comparable to the first painstakingly slow ancient printing press.
We need to remember, not too many centuries ago, books were handwritten on papyrus. Then along came the printing press -- at a high cost -- radically producing text that not everyone could afford.
I'm sure back then there were change-fearing naysayers writing on papyrus about the woes and demise of the printing press. And like then, I believe a few generations will eventually adopted the new technology as routine and "everyday."
Mike
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