Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Thornton
We trust paper because it has been around for a long time, but digital information is easier to store and protect in the long term.
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Actually, we trust print books for many more reasons than because it has been around a long time.
When we buy a pbook we subconsciously make many assumptions, including these: the book has been vetted by the publisher (assuming it is a known publisher and not a self-published title) so it is minimally readable and the content is minimally reliable; the author has some credibility; the book we buy exactly matches the copy we can buy next week or 5 weeks from now or a year from now; the text we read will be the same text that our neighbor will read and our friend on the other side of the country.
The digital file ebook doesn't give us those assurances. The version I download today may be emasculated tomorrow by the author or by someone else. There is no one checking that the book is really by the person named (that is currently a topic of discussion on
Teleread where a Polish author's book was hijacked by somone/thing called SugarLand Press) or that it is the same as the book the author wrote. I do not know whether the book and author are credible or reliable (unless the ebook is from a known author/publisher).
eBooks have a long way to go to match pbooks in reliability, authenticity, and credibility.