Quote:
Originally Posted by barryem
However, in this situation he's also completely wrong in saying that ebooks bring nothing new. They bring light. They bring lots of books in less space than print books need for each single book. They bring the ability to easily get your next book from any nearby Wifi or from anywhere in the case of my 3G Kindles. They bring a built-in dictionary. They bring text search. They bring adjustable fonts.
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Yes, exactly, which is what he’s missing when he says “It is exactly the same as print, except it’s electronic.” It’s like dismissing digital audio because it's “exactly the same as CDs, except it's electronic.” Or Tiger Woods because he's “exactly like everyone else, except better at golf.”
The “except” is kind of the whole point. Being electronic allows for most of the things you mention and more: lots of books in less space, online downloads/purchases/loans, dictionary lookups and text searching, adjustable fonts, free access to all the world’s old classics, backups in case of fire or flood, &c.