The Future of Books?

More random mumblings at Suite101… 🙂

3 Responses to “The Future of Books?”

  1. Of course, the other advantage of a real book is that when it pours with rain and water soaks through your bag and snuggles up close to the book it is (a) still readable and (b) will only cost £6 to £16 to replace if it isn’t. 🙂
    I think e-books are a nice idea, but they are still on my ‘gizmo that I can put off buying ‘cos the money is needed for other hobbies’ list. And with e-books those spontaneous I just read this great book – here, you can borrow it moments become IP theft…! 🙂

  2. Colin says:

    You’ve never seen water-damaged files, then… 🙂
    If enough water ‘soaks through your bag,’ the pages are likely to stick together. And yes, books are cheaper to replace at this point in time. But that will change – the history of electronic fmcg’s is full of precedents.
    ‘you can borrow it’ is covered by the creative commons licence — all you have to do is leave the content unchanged. Cory Doctorow is a prime advocate of this. In fact, you can change it, as long as you make it clear who the original author is.
    But that was my whole point. Neither format will become extinct, despite the claims of their various advocates and nay-sayers. I don’t have an e-book reader, but the time is drawing nearer when I buy one, for things like reading on a plane. I’m waiting for the price to come down, and for all the teething issues to come out.
    I will also continue to buy books. Nothing will stop me buying books – but my house can’t take many more without culling the ones I have, so my rate of purchase has already slowed.

  3. Oh yes, I need to do a book and comic cull soon… or start sleeping in the car park! 🙂
    Re reading an e-book on a plane – I’d live in fear that the Powers That Be would have another security clamp down and decide that they are verboten electronic devices more deadly in the hands of a terrorist than nail scissors and a bottle of sparkling mineral water. 🙂
    A quote I once saw in a con newsletter:
    PERSON 1: What do you call the irrational fear of not having anything good to read?
    PERSON 2: That’s not an irrational fear.
    I’m with person 2!

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• June 12th, 2009 • Posted in General • Comments: 3