It seems Aussies have a different relationship to their paper books than most other folks do. The Age has an exceptionally
interesting article where Monica Dux talks about the pleasures of reading paper books versus e-books. On the one hand, she envisions a rosy future for e-reader technology, with screens that resemble normal paper, download access to unlimited content, and intelligent user interfaces. On the other hand, she maintains that for most people, including herself, "the idea of replacing traditional books is as unthinkable as taking the body out of the sex act, so carnal is their attachment."
The author mentions various pro-paper book sentiments:
- Emotional attachment: you must be able to feel, smell and (uhm...) listen to books
- Separation anxiety: readers cannot be more than five minutes away from a real book without developing a stomach ache
- Location flexibility: the "3 B's" - bed, beach and bath
- Bookshops: you got to worship the temples in which books are housed.
But Mrs Dux doesn't stop here. In fact, she explains that most of these emotional aspects could be addressed by further technical improvements of e-readers (why has no one yet considered a clear waterproof slim-case for the iRex iLiad?). And she summarizes very nicely:
Quote:
|
It is likely that printed books will persist and even thrive. Yet it's wise to be clear about what it is that motivates our desire to retain them. Otherwise we dedicated readers leave ourselves open to the danger of becoming literary anachronisms, as the mainstream world embraces the new technology and we who exalt the book as well as the text are ironically left with an inferior way of consuming our beloved words, blinded to the grander purpose to which books are dedicated: reading.
|