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Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
I think we need a new format for reference material. [snip]
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Agreed. Or we need epub to be a bit more versatile--not much more--and for devices to *support* all the features that epub allows. Right now, no companies are working on devices that support all that epubs can do.
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You'd be suprised what you can get of current events/ect from the internet, which is usually more current than a travel book.
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No question about the content. Where an ebook is better, is situations where you don't have access to the internet. Also, having "tourist info" separated from "historical info" is useful for travelers. However, currently, the only ebook devices that have enough features to really support travel books are the tablets--which expect constant wireless access for a lot of the other features that make them worth having. (Also, limited battery life, which gets in the way of some travel plans.)
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A good history book can be read many years after it has been written, without loss. After all, the past isn't going to change (no remarks about the Change Winds, please.)
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Heh. Mostly agreed? Agreed-with-caveats? History books of the past were mostly written by wealthy white Christian men (double-emphasis on
men), and interpret the world through their particular set of biases. While there are some amazing exceptions, some aspects of history require modern books because they've been marginalized for centuries; only recent scholars have been willing to research them at all.
Also, a lot of older history books (like many modern ones) have a specific focus to push an agenda. This isn't a bad thing (Loewen's
Sundown Towns uses its facts to show that racism is not part of the distant past in America), but if the agenda is no longer relevant, the book itself may be of limited use. History books that attempt to prove the need for widespread public education, for example, may not be too useful today.
I see value in both older history books and new ones; I don't think the problem is new ones are eclipsing the old ones as much as the old ones not being converted to digital formats except by Google scans.