Jonathan Franzen: e-books are damaging society

[Jedibeeftrix]

"Jonathan Franzen has launched a passionate defence of the printed book, warning that our desire for the instant gratification of e-books is damaging for society."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/h...ESSUvpk.reddit

#MisunderstandingTheTechnology

[Jedibeeftrix]

“I think, for serious readers, a sense of permanence has always been part of the experience. Everything else in your life is fluid, but here is this text that doesn’t change. Will there still be readers 50 years from now who feel that way?"

Your objection ebooks is misplaced, there is nothing impermanent about the open epub standard, it can be easily supported until the end of time.

No, the problem lies in DRM encrypted ebooks that are tied to devices and services to which you need to have a long term loyalty to lest you hard earned investment in a 'library' disappear forever into the ether.

I thoroughly agree that books must remain a product which I own rather than a service that i have temporarily contracted, and were this not possible with ebooks I would not buy them.

[Link deleted - MODERATORl]

[carpetmojo]

Dunno about ebooks, but the desire for instant gratification damages my society terribly if I can't find the tea-bags in the morning......

[spindlegirl]

I've gotten into a few conversations about e-books with people and sometimes people will say, "Oh, but I am all about how it FEELS in my hands" and wax nostalgic about how they'd miss paper, as if paper were going obsolete, or as if people who possess an e-book reader somehow don't have any emotional depth whatsoever to appreciate paper.

When E-banking came along, I switched to pay my bills electronically, too rather than copping a feel over my cheque-book too, yet nobody seems to mind that

E-books for me, have not replaced paper books. There are some printed books I have kept but I cart the e-book form with me in my bag. A person can have both.

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

I've gotten into a few conversations about e-books with people and sometimes people will say, "Oh, but I am all about how it FEELS in my hands" and wax nostalgic about how they'd miss paper...

Sounds like the people who felt that way about the "feel" of using a typewriter; pulling the paper out, hitting the carriage return, etc.

It's not like typewriters just disappeared. Oh, wait a minute, they did.

[xg4bx]

darn digital technology, giving humanity more access to literature than at any time in our species history. knock it off!

maybe he should chisel his next novel onto a stone tablet. theres definitely a physical sensation and it will certainly last awhile.

[rhadin]

I think Franzen has a valid point and that it is being missed. eBooks are subject to constant revision, and ultimately to revision by someone other than the author, whereas once a book is printed to paper, that version of the book remains -- there is a permanence to it that ebooks may not emulate.

I'm not one who dislikes ebooks (obviously, or I wouldn't be participating here or own a couple of reading devices), but I distinguish between two categories of books: (1) those that I want "permanently" and as written and (2) those that once read are disposable. For me, the former category is made up of the hardcover books I buy whereas the latter category is made up of the ebooks that I buy.

Having said that, I also need to note that on an increasing number of occasions, I am buying both the hardcover and the ebook versions of a book. The hardcover version becomes a permanent part of my library and is the reference version I refer to; the ebook provides me with the means to read the book conveniently.

[spindlegirl]

If it is instant gratification he is objecting to, I wonder, has he ever bought fast food? Does he own a cell phone?

I'm one of the few people who has never possessed a cell phone. I don't need one when I am home most of the time. If I am not home at the moment, try again later

[Ninjalawyer]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I think Franzen has a valid point and that it is being missed. eBooks are subject to constant revision, and ultimately to revision by someone other than the author, whereas once a book is printed to paper, that version of the book remains -- there is a permanence to it that ebooks may not emulate.

I'm not one who dislikes ebooks (obviously, or I wouldn't be participating here or own a couple of reading devices), but I distinguish between two categories of books: (1) those that I want "permanently" and as written and (2) those that once read are disposable. For me, the former category is made up of the hardcover books I buy whereas the latter category is made up of the ebooks that I buy.

Having said that, I also need to note that on an increasing number of occasions, I am buying both the hardcover and the ebook versions of a book. The hardcover version becomes a permanent part of my library and is the reference version I refer to; the ebook provides me with the means to read the book conveniently.

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?

And Franzen mentions spilling something on a book, which highlights how much less permanent a physical copy is. A physical book can be ruined, destroyed in a fire say, but a digital version can exist in a multitude of places, backed up on your computer and on some company's server.

[MrReset]

Excuse me for disturbing, but ...
who is Jonathan Franzen?

[markbot]

Originally Posted by Jedibeeftrix

"Jonathan Franzen has launched a passionate defence of the printed book, warning that our desire for the instant gratification of e-books is damaging for society."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/h...ESSUvpk.reddit

#MisunderstandingTheTechnology

He makes a good point. You don't really buy the ebooks since they don't let you resell, lend, or rent them out individually...and you are locked into a particularly platform. You pay the same amount, or more!, but have fewer rights. Although, for digital library and out of copyright books ebooks are far superior to pbooks. Lets hope they don't one day extended infinite length copyrights. Also, after 20 or so new books ereaders are more efficient since they don't use paper.

On balance, ereaders are superior since there are more digital library and out of copyright works than works in copyright...and while ebooks have fewer rights, there are other benefits like taking up no space and searchability.

[crich70]

This is an old argument. I'm sure that some monks felt the same way when the printing press came along and superseded the need for scribes to copy books by hand one letter at a time. And of course when printed material went from the scroll to what we've known as the pbook for the last 1000 yrs or so. New ways of doing something always have opposition when they come about.

[ficbot]

I think people like Franzen also overlook the reality that keeping a large and permanent paper library is still an economic privilege for many people. I live in a city where real estate is very expensive and I will never be able to afford a single-family home unless I get an inheritance or win the lottery. They just posted a story in the paper about a two-bedroom home that was badly in need of renovations and was right beside a train track, and even that fixed upper was half a million dollars! So where does Franzen expect I am going to store all this permanent paper in my cramped inner-city apartment? Ebooks have opened up the concept of 'owning a library' to people like me who would otherwise be borrowing the books they read from the public one.

It is fine to say he does not prefer them, but to imply that those who read ebooks are less 'serious' readers is downright offensive.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

I've gotten into a few conversations about e-books with people and sometimes people will say, "Oh, but I am all about how it FEELS in my hands" and wax nostalgic about how they'd miss paper, as if paper were going obsolete, or as if people who possess an e-book reader somehow don't have any emotional depth whatsoever to appreciate paper.

When E-banking came along, I switched to pay my bills electronically, too rather than copping a feel over my cheque-book too, yet nobody seems to mind that

E-books for me, have not replaced paper books. There are some printed books I have kept but I cart the e-book form with me in my bag. A person can have both.

So true. If others are like I was then those who state "Oh, but I am all about how it FEELS in my hands" have never actually used an ebook. After I was given my first one I found that I liked the advantages of an ebook more than the feel of a "Real Book".
Apache

[HomeInMyShoes]

E-readers themselves aren't ruining books or society, but governments and corporations are. He has a valid point about permanence of the art itself.