Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer
I don't understand what lack of permanence Franzen (or you) is concerned about. I've never once thought to myself after buying an ebook "oh, I hate how the author keeps updating the text as I read it, most irritating." Ya, new digital editions can come out, but how is that different than new versions of a paperback book? Is it just because digital text is easier to revise? But so what? how does that affect the digital edition that you bought before it was revised?
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I think the problem with ebooks is that unless the early version has been widely pirated, once the changes have been made that is the only version available. So any future historians will struggle to put them into context if they keep being updated. It will be even worse if it isn't the original writer doing the updating.
Whereas with real books, no matter what happens to them later there is always a permanant copy left behind. So if you wanted to read Enid Blyton with gollywogs instead of goblins, you could still do so.