Will Paper books fade away?

primbs · 03-09-2009, 11:45 AM

http://www.mediapost.com/publication...&art_aid=68421

"The notion that books, newspapers and magazines will be replaced by electronic media is as foolish as the belief that the visual arts will one day consist entirely of computer graphics

the futurists get it all wrong.

Technology changes, but human nature does not."

Nate the great · 03-09-2009, 11:46 AM

Yes, paper books will fade away - just like horses did with the invention of the automobile.

lilac_jive · 03-09-2009, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Yes, paper books will fade away - just like horses did with the invention of the automobile.

Living in NoVa, you should know people still ride horses.

Well, at least ten years ago when I lived there. All the rich people played polo.

Druidsbane · 03-09-2009, 11:58 AM

I think that one day they will fade away too. There will always be some form of printed book I believe but it will probably be a luxury. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, I'm certain we'll have much more convenient access to books than we have even now.

DixieGal · 03-09-2009, 12:07 PM

Mine all got tossed out 2 wks ago. Sneaked them into the library's drop-box while they were closed on Sunday. Ah, sweet space and freedom!

primbs · 03-09-2009, 12:09 PM

http://www.fool.com/investing/genera...l-survive.aspx

"The Baen dudes understood early on that electronic reading is a poor substitute for holding a real book, so the e-books and chapter excerpts serve as awesome marketing materials.

Download an entire book, read enough to get hooked, and then you'll eventually get tired of staring at a stupid screen for hours. So in the end, readers who really want to read these books tend to plunk down a few bucks for the real deal. This theory may not work quite so well for rockers and crooners, but authors seem to have a real revenue source secured for years to come. The Kindle and such gadgets will ultimately just make us buy more books."

desertgrandma · 03-09-2009, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Druidsbane

I think that one day they will fade away too. There will always be some form of printed book I believe but it will probably be a luxury. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, I'm certain we'll have much more convenient access to books than we have even now.

No, we'll have access to whatever books are 'available'.

Liviu_5 · 03-09-2009, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Yes, paper books will fade away - just like horses did with the invention of the automobile.

Nope; too many comparative advantages; try and give an ebook device to a child for example and see how long it lasts; I owned tons of books with torn covers (by me or my friends), missing pages, casually wet ones and so on; when devices get to that point, so you can throw then casually around, rip pieces from them and they keep working pretty much as before, maybe, but it will require another tech level...

if humanity goes into total body mods (e-interfaces built in the body and such) - assuming possible of course - I may change my opinion, but otherwise I just do not see it in the foreseeable future; only with body mods that e becomes an extension of the body the way the paper book is today in the sense that you need nothing to access it, just itself, no disintermediation, yeah maybe...

cars are an extension of the body, the way horses were, and while they need an infrastructure, horses needed one too; the analogue here would be cars replaced by teleporting, not cars replacing horses; music has always been disintermediated except in direct performance...

farther away we just have "unknown unknowns" so we cannot say anything pertinent...

edit later: Earth will fade away, the Sun will fade away, humanity will fade away, and books will fade away, but that's not the point of the thread as far as I can see

cerement · 03-09-2009, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

I owned tons of books with torn covers (by me or my friends), missing pages, casually wet ones and so on;

I actually consider this an advantage of ebooks. I've lost too many books to inconsiderate "friends", ebook readers provide the perfect excuse of not being able to "just lend a copy"

primbs · 03-09-2009, 12:27 PM

I saw this on a facebook debate.

"I don't beleive that books will ever be replaced. Books can be such a powerful source of inspiration and beauty. Granted, a book is really just a vessel for thought, and these same thoughts can be communicated just as effectively, if not more so via electronic means. But the experience of reading a book is something that is yet to be replicated by technology. I doubt it ever will.

The touch of the pages, the smell of a leather bound classic, the completely intimate experience that evolves when a reader turns the pages and the printed words come to life. The beauty of handcrafted illuminated letters in medieval texts There is nothing like it.

I believe many books are a work of art in their own right. That is, their value not only lies in the content they house, but in the emotion they evoke in the person experiencing them. This emotional response comes, in part, from the physicality of the object. The dust jacket, the cover art, the page layout, the interplay of blank and used space. A book as a physical object can not be replaced by a technological replacement, it just can't.

If we compare this to another art form, I can google Michael Angelo's David any day. I can see a picture or read about it, and probably get the information I need. But doing this will not make me catch me breath and mesmerise me the way standing in front of the real thing in the Galleria dell'Accademia does. It can't enable me to experience the way the eyes shift and David's expression changes as you move to different points in the room. Likewsie, an e-book or the internet will never give me the pleasure that comes with grabbing my pencil and underlining a favourite phrase or jotting notes on the pages edge."

Liviu_5 · 03-09-2009, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cerement

I actually consider this an advantage of ebooks. I've lost too many books to inconsiderate "friends", ebook readers provide the perfect excuse of not being able to "just lend a copy"

beside the point; if you have a child and want him/her to grow a reader, are you giving him/her ebooks to read or paper books - independently I mean, not what you read to him/her, though even there since you will read picture books and large size books, you will most likely a paper book for the foreseeable future..

future readers = current children

cerement · 03-09-2009, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

if you have a child and want him/her to grow a reader, are you giving him/her ebooks to read or paper books - independently I mean, not what you read to him/her, though even there since you will read picture books and large size books, you will most likely a paper book for the foreseeable future

I think this is more a problem for the hardware designers. We have the technology, there is no reason why a reader can't be made with waterproof, with a sturdy, indestructible plastic frame (after all, we can do it with laptops). Then the question becomes which you would rather your kid handle, an electronic reader that reduces clutter, can be slammed against a wall, and can survive being dropped in the toilet or calling the plumber to retrieve your signed, waterlogged pile of pulp?

S.Canton · 03-09-2009, 12:37 PM

I have a feeling that yes, paper books will fade away. It's a logical transition, especially given that people are finally starting to realize that the environment is important, and not something to be left as an afterthought. Less paper books, less tree's being cut down.

desertgrandma · 03-09-2009, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cerement

I think this is more a problem for the hardware designers. We have the technology, there is no reason why a reader can't be made with waterproof, with a sturdy, indestructible plastic frame (after all, we can do it with laptops). Then the question becomes which you would rather your kid handle, an electronic reader that reduces clutter, can be slammed against a wall, and can survive being dropped in the toilet or calling the plumber to retrieve your signed, waterlogged pile of pulp?

Thats easy. I want my kid to hand paper books.......colorful, fuzzy, torn, thumb-smudged, dog-eared, well read paper books.

Like the some of the ones my granddaugher is reading now, which belonged to her mother. Thats something you can't reproduce in a mechanical device.

I have never had a book wind up in the toilet.

Slamming books against the wall is a no-no. Its all about teaching a child to respect books.

dadioflex · 03-09-2009, 12:57 PM

Edit.

03-09-2009, 11:45 AM	#1
primbs Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2007	Will Paper books fade away? http://www.mediapost.com/publication...&art_aid=68421 "The notion that books, newspapers and magazines will be replaced by electronic media is as foolish as the belief that the visual arts will one day consist entirely of computer graphics the futurists get it all wrong. Technology changes, but human nature does not."

03-09-2009, 12:57 PM	#15
dadioflex Dyslexic Count Posts: 526 Karma: 5041991 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: Palm TX, Advent Vega, iPad, iPod Touch, Kindle	Edit. Last edited by dadioflex; 12-16-2010 at 04:00 AM.

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03-09-2009, 11:46 AM	#2
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	Yes, paper books will fade away - just like horses did with the invention of the automobile.

03-09-2009, 11:58 AM	#4
Druidsbane Member Posts: 24 Karma: 13 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New York Device: txtr	I think that one day they will fade away too. There will always be some form of printed book I believe but it will probably be a luxury. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, I'm certain we'll have much more convenient access to books than we have even now.

03-09-2009, 12:07 PM	#5
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	Mine all got tossed out 2 wks ago. Sneaked them into the library's drop-box while they were closed on Sunday. Ah, sweet space and freedom!

03-09-2009, 12:09 PM	#6
primbs Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2007	http://www.fool.com/investing/genera...l-survive.aspx "The Baen dudes understood early on that electronic reading is a poor substitute for holding a real book, so the e-books and chapter excerpts serve as awesome marketing materials. Download an entire book, read enough to get hooked, and then you'll eventually get tired of staring at a stupid screen for hours. So in the end, readers who really want to read these books tend to plunk down a few bucks for the real deal. This theory may not work quite so well for rockers and crooners, but authors seem to have a real revenue source secured for years to come. The Kindle and such gadgets will ultimately just make us buy more books."

03-09-2009, 12:27 PM	#10
primbs Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2007	I saw this on a facebook debate. "I don't beleive that books will ever be replaced. Books can be such a powerful source of inspiration and beauty. Granted, a book is really just a vessel for thought, and these same thoughts can be communicated just as effectively, if not more so via electronic means. But the experience of reading a book is something that is yet to be replicated by technology. I doubt it ever will. The touch of the pages, the smell of a leather bound classic, the completely intimate experience that evolves when a reader turns the pages and the printed words come to life. The beauty of handcrafted illuminated letters in medieval texts There is nothing like it. I believe many books are a work of art in their own right. That is, their value not only lies in the content they house, but in the emotion they evoke in the person experiencing them. This emotional response comes, in part, from the physicality of the object. The dust jacket, the cover art, the page layout, the interplay of blank and used space. A book as a physical object can not be replaced by a technological replacement, it just can't. If we compare this to another art form, I can google Michael Angelo's David any day. I can see a picture or read about it, and probably get the information I need. But doing this will not make me catch me breath and mesmerise me the way standing in front of the real thing in the Galleria dell'Accademia does. It can't enable me to experience the way the eyes shift and David's expression changes as you move to different points in the room. Likewsie, an e-book or the internet will never give me the pleasure that comes with grabbing my pencil and underlining a favourite phrase or jotting notes on the pages edge."

03-09-2009, 12:37 PM	#13
S.Canton Groupie Posts: 174 Karma: 12 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Kindle 2	I have a feeling that yes, paper books will fade away. It's a logical transition, especially given that people are finally starting to realize that the environment is important, and not something to be left as an afterthought. Less paper books, less tree's being cut down.

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