As many of you undoubtedly know, Amazon released its new Kindle ebook reader this holiday season. It holds over 200 titles and can access Amazon’s online bookstore wirelessly, which boasts over 90,000 titles for instant downloading. The Kindle isn’t the first ebook reader and it won’t be the last, but it is evolutionary in many ways.
I love books in their printed form, and have always been somewhat of a bibliophile. Ever since I learned to read I have surrounded myself with books and can happily lose hours on end in any bookstore or library. Many who share my fondness for the traditional book can’t see a future where digital books are the primary format. I’ve heard all the objections: “I like to hold a book,” “I like bringing it with me,” “I don’t want to read a book on a computer screen,” “I like flipping the pages; I the feel of paper,” “I write in my books,” “I like the smell of books”.
While I can’t say I disagree with any of these statements, I also cherished my album collection: flipping through a stack of albums, spreading them out on the floor, looking at the various art on the jackets, pondering which one to put in the stereo next… these were all part of the experience. Yet, I changed with times (albeit slowly), and through the various technologies as well. Last year I finally threw out all my CD cases (clutter!) and decided that I would no longer buy CD’s. Digital music was the way to go: it’s easy (no trips to the store), more portable, it doesn’t break or scratch or get lost or worn, and it doesn’t clutter up my entertainment center. I am since very pleased with both my decision and my increasing digital music collection.
It is inevitable that the older formats we know and love will eventually take a backseat, and books, like our songs and albums, will be easily accessed, shared, and carried in our pockets. Along with these changes, multimedia such as images and video are more and more becoming part of our texts, and as our ability to create, distribute and share texts keeps expanding, authorship is transforming along with it. What will become of the printed book as digital innovation moves forward? The Institute for The Future of The Book, a think tank devoted to investigating the book’s future in a networked digital world, explores Continue reading “The Future of the Book”