MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Seriousness They're still talking about Mildew.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 12-30-2010, 01:04 PM

So, here we are, beginning the second decade of the 21st century... ebooks are beginning to sell, ebook reading devices are everywhere, major authors are thinking about ditching their publishers for a better cut of the pie through digital media, and the digital future looks so bright, you gotta wear shades.

Yet, when I find myself talking to people about ebooks, I still hear people defend the printed book in the same old ways: It doesn't feel like plastic. It looks like it always has. It has that wonderful, slightly mildew-y smell to it.

People. Defending mildew.

As a futurist, I'm beside myself. I personally don't understand how people can deny that ebooks are better than printed books: The versatility and flexibility of ebooks, compared to printed books, is undeniable. The ability to carry your entire library with you at all times seems like a no-brainer. The expanding list of devices is almost a wretched excess of choices. The expanding list of authors that are available digitally, growing faster than the number of printed authors, is nothing but desirable.

And people still tell me they want mildew. They want faded ink and bad contrast. They want pages so thin you could see the letters from the other side showing through. They want broken spines, torn brown paper and the occasional bug squished between pages.

It's like defending Hiroshima, back in the good-old days when there was radiation.

It's like condemning my car because it doesn't have a horse attached to it. Or criticizing my television watching, because the shows aren't in wonderful black-and-white, or because my TV doesn't have dials to turn to tune the shows in.

I can understand liking something old... but not revering it when it wasn't as good as what you have now. How is it that so many people seem outright afraid of this one technology, especially when they don't seem to be afraid of others? Where did we aficionados go wrong when we promoted ebooks to others? Why, after over 15 years of trying to build recognition of ebooks, do people think we're crazy to read them? Really... do we look that crazy?

Yes, I'm looking for serious answers to these questions... for one thing, to help me to sell my books to others, and not just people in this forum. To help me figure out how to speak to those who are afraid of innovation, even when they don't know they are afraid. To convert people to the wave of future reading.

12-30-2010, 01:04 PM	#1
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	They're still talking about Mildew. So, here we are, beginning the second decade of the 21st century... ebooks are beginning to sell, ebook reading devices are everywhere, major authors are thinking about ditching their publishers for a better cut of the pie through digital media, and the digital future looks so bright, you gotta wear shades. Yet, when I find myself talking to people about ebooks, I still hear people defend the printed book in the same old ways: It doesn't feel like plastic. It looks like it always has. It has that wonderful, slightly mildew-y smell to it. People. Defending mildew. As a futurist, I'm beside myself. I personally don't understand how people can deny that ebooks are better than printed books: The versatility and flexibility of ebooks, compared to printed books, is undeniable. The ability to carry your entire library with you at all times seems like a no-brainer. The expanding list of devices is almost a wretched excess of choices. The expanding list of authors that are available digitally, growing faster than the number of printed authors, is nothing but desirable. And people still tell me they want mildew. They want faded ink and bad contrast. They want pages so thin you could see the letters from the other side showing through. They want broken spines, torn brown paper and the occasional bug squished between pages. It's like defending Hiroshima, back in the good-old days when there was radiation. It's like condemning my car because it doesn't have a horse attached to it. Or criticizing my television watching, because the shows aren't in wonderful black-and-white, or because my TV doesn't have dials to turn to tune the shows in. I can understand liking something old... but not revering it when it wasn't as good as what you have now. How is it that so many people seem outright afraid of this one technology, especially when they don't seem to be afraid of others? Where did we aficionados go wrong when we promoted ebooks to others? Why, after over 15 years of trying to build recognition of ebooks, do people think we're crazy to read them? Really... do we look that crazy? Yes, I'm looking for serious answers to these questions... for one thing, to help me to sell my books to others, and not just people in this forum. To help me figure out how to speak to those who are afraid of innovation, even when they don't know they are afraid. To convert people to the wave of future reading.