11-19-2012, 04:47 PM | #91 | |
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I was in a hotel, and there was a paper copy of the complete works of Jane Austen. It was a beautiful binding, the author of the article would have certainly approved. The visual and tactile sensations were quite nice. The only thing is, to fit it all into one binding, the font was made tiny. It put it down. It wasn't a book made for reading, it was a book made for display, to look good on a shelf. I read Pride and Prejudice on my Kindle. I read it every bit as much as someone who read it on paper, by any reasonable measure. But back to what you were discussing: that paper book was a book that contained books. The same thing would have been true of an e-book that contained all of Jane Austen's works. In one sense, the book is the container for the story, and can be in a number of forms, stone or clay tablets, papyrus scrolls, a paper codex or a digital file on an e-reader. In another sense, the book refers to the story itself, independent of the medium. When we talk about Pride and Prejudice, for example, we aren't all that interested in the medium it came on, one person can read it in paperback, another in hardcover, and still another in an e-book format, and we've all read the same book. |
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11-19-2012, 10:14 PM | #92 |
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11-19-2012, 10:40 PM | #93 |
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@QuantumIguana: Interesting point of view. We need to stop calling everything a book, and a lot of problems / confusion would be solved. Take graphic novels - if you like to read them then call 'em for what they are - graphic novels. It doesn't really matter what medium they are on, as long as they are displayed the way they were meant to be seen. If it got color, then it needs to be on a color display or printed in color. In case you are interested in them as an investment / collectors item, don't opt for electronic versions - that must be done on high quality glossy paper possibly as low volume limited print edition. But stop calling them graphic novel - it should be (not me personally): I collect rare comic books of this and this and this, but I also like to read any other graphic novel of this genre electronically for convenience.
Same with books. We use the term book both as a synonym for the physical paper pages bound by a cover, and then the book as the content (most commonly some novel). The experience of reading a book (the paper thingy) can IMHO never fully be simulated by an electronic gadget. And neither should it be - the e-reader is simply an evolution for reading convenience. There is not much to improve on paper-books, but e-readers can still be made better as technology improves. In my case, the mere act of reading as in looking at the page, recognizing the shapes that make out the letters and turning them into words, sentences is easier, better looking on e-ink than on paper. The fact that every book looks the same (same font, same size, same line spacing) is a huge added bonus on e-reader. Just yesterday I looked through the book isle in a store and checked the hard-cover books out. They did feel nice to handle and all, but I could not find two books that looked alike inside. None of them were easy to read - fonts too small, font too fancy, font too condensed (letters in a word almost touching), too many words per line. And that was only the hard-covers. The new "modern" paperbacks that are longer and slimmer are even worse - the margins on inside are practically non-existant. |
11-20-2012, 03:55 AM | #94 |
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E-reading isn't reading?
Go on then someone give me a clue, if it isn't reading what is it? Send your reply by ESP I will remember to sniff every paper book I read from now on. Please manufacturer's do not invent the sniff-able ebook It could be embarrassing! |
11-20-2012, 08:01 AM | #95 |
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We already have a word for a bound collection of paper pages. That word is "codex". A graphic novel (which really isn't kind of novel, but I digress) is still a graphic novel, even if you read it on an e-reader, or even if it isn't in color. Not being in color doesn't make it something else.
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11-20-2012, 08:13 AM | #96 | |
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11-20-2012, 06:50 PM | #97 |
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Ebook reading isn't reading a paper book and turning pages. This, we know.
Dictionary.com says reading is: to look at carefully so as to understand the meaning of something written, printed, etc. Is reading a billboard reading? Street sign? These are all reading. |
11-20-2012, 06:52 PM | #98 |
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Well now that a few have entertained my insanity,
To me it would make more sense if the e-reader was called an e-book, which contained novels, poems, etc. Ive allways thought of a book as something that holds a story making the phrase "writing a book" quite confusing. I must say Im diggin the term "Überbook" because it doesnt make sense to think of an e-reader as a singular e-book. |
11-20-2012, 06:54 PM | #99 |
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I've always thought of my eReader as an eLibrary containing eBooks that eNtertain me...
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11-20-2012, 07:02 PM | #100 |
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E-reading is reading for those who e-read, not for the others.
When I am p-reading, people ask what I am reading. When I am e-reading, people ask what I am doing. |
11-21-2012, 05:20 AM | #101 |
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I totally agree with the original article that reading is not just consuming text. But that does not mean that using ebooks as containers for text make the activity not reading. Reading a book/ebook has a context and additional factors that makes it not just consuming text. So it feels to me like people in this thread have missed this point or that they really think that reading is just consuming text.
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11-21-2012, 10:06 AM | #102 |
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http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/read
The relevant definition of "read" is "to look at carefully so as to understand the meaning of (something written, printed, etc.): to read a book; to read music." You look at the words and comprehend the meaning. That's reading. Reading, like any other action has a context, but that doesn't make that context an actual part of reading. That's the mistake the author is making, he assumes that the context in which he prefers to read is an inherent part of reading, and that without it, it isn't reading. Boxing isn't just punching people, for example, the context - in the ring, in a boxing match - is an inherent part of what makes it boxing. Remove that context, and it isn't boxing, it is just fighting. But with reading, you can change that context to your heart's content, and it's still reading - the context is not part of what makes it reading. |
11-21-2012, 10:41 AM | #103 | |
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11-21-2012, 11:10 AM | #104 | |
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His preferred context, your preferred context, my preferred context are not inherent parts of reading. It would still be reading in some other contexts. |
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11-21-2012, 11:35 AM | #105 | |
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