Quote:
Originally Posted by brecklundin
You are probably correct about today's schools. But for me when I was that age I easily spend several hundred bucks a year on paperbacks and I bought used at yard sales, thrift shops and what not... (etc etc)
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Yes, you are right. My view was narrow, say since PC appeared in the early 80's. But then again, that is what we have to build on. Also, your willingness (and mine, as well) to move to an ereader is based on a previous book habit build in earlier years. While my son was never a veracious reader in his youth, now that he is in his mid-20's (lol, yes, some consider this to still be "youth") he reads a lot of non-fiction. It will take a while before he moves to an ebook, if ever, because his books are not readily e-available.
It may be that it is not dedicated ereaders alone will threaten the pbook species with extinction. It may well be that the multi-use tablets will function better for many. It certainly does for my wife, because a typically heavy reading year for her is 4 books, although she reads several p-magazines and we refuse to give up our daily p-newspaper until it is no longer available.
But I digress. Your point is a good one in that in 3rd-world (perhaps "4th-world" in some cases), reading may be as it was with you (us) in your youth (and Abraham Lincoln's, if the tales are true, although neither of is that old, yet) -- something to treasure, with the procurement of a tattered, well-read book the highlight of the week or month.
But in that environment, I don't see ebooks replacing them any time soon. In the electronic cultures that apparently embraced cellphones quicker than us laggards in the US, I still stick to the view that perhaps the combination of ereaders and tablets will increase the threat to pbooks significantly, but not to extinction any time soon.
I do, however, agree with Speakingtohe, that even with build-in generators, they may find themselves on the black market or the local dump (or leveling tables like an old phone book) more often than for their intended use. And, as he sez, batteries don't last forever and it is a long way to their local Walmart to replace it. Of course, in 5 years, maybe not. LOL.