Some people predict that one day, all books and periodicals will take to digital form.
I sincerely hope books remain tangible–something where the pages still turn or something that I can highlight for future reference.
Why?
I love holding a book in my hands. I don’t want to stare into a screen. Not only is it about my senses, it’s about character. How will books have character if we put them all in one little compact reader?
What if I want to judge a book by it’s cover
I guess it won’t even be possible to judge a book by its cover if its in digital format. I want to be able to know I am holding a story in my hands.
Something that will last
If we look back through history, civilizations left parts of themselves behind. The Romans left coins with emperors engraved on them, the Greeks left pottery revealing their gods and beliefs. We can still go visit Roman architecture and stand inside or travel to the great continent of Africa and find the Egyptian pyramids.
What will we leave behind?
Little shards of plastic and metal? If our civilization fell, what would archaeologists unearth about us if we don’t leave behind tangible books or periodicals? I doubt little compact digital readers will be among what they find fascinating, I doubt the digital readers will even function at that point. Standard leaflet newspapers and books made of paper mark a point in time. They tell us where, we as a culture, have been, who we were, and who we are now.
If our forms of media disappear from the newspaper stands and bookstores, will the corroding computers say enough for what we thought and did as a civilization or will these technological clues say that we were too advanced to leave a trail, even for history’s sake?
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Sarah said:
I understand wanting tangible books, with paper you can feel and pages you can turn. I don’t understand writing off digital books because archaeologists won’t be able to make sense of them.
June 25, 2008 @ 2:36 pm
Jacqueline Johnson said:
I guess it’s more about wondering how much technology will last and I’m asking if the technology we produce is actually contributing something to the world.
June 25, 2008 @ 2:42 pm
Anastasia said:
I couldn’t agree with you more. And what of the differing smells of old and new books, and the pleasure of browsing through shelves? What of beautiful gold engraving on the cover of an old leather-bound collection of classics? Those are very important to me.
June 25, 2008 @ 7:01 pm
Anna said:
Your discussion of the possibility of moving to strictly digital media reminds me of something I heard the CEO of my (textbook) publishing company say, “It’s about moving to a faster, better, cheaper medium.”
I feel that a lot of the discussion in this arena has to do with “bottom line” for companies, and not so much about what the readers/users themselves are actually asking for… I suppose time will tell.
June 26, 2008 @ 6:35 pm
leafless said:
Reading is more about reading words. It is also about the experience. Turning each page with great interests is part of the experience.
July 1, 2008 @ 5:16 pm