CBC Radio: Ideas on eBooks

[PeterT]

This evening, CBC Radio One on their Ideas program had on

Tuesday, June 28
CLOSING THE BOOK
The world of letters is being rocked by new technology. The rapid rise of the e-reader could be the biggest change in books since Gutenberg invented movable type. Readers, writers, booksellers, and publishers are all grappling with its implications and asking a fundamental question: is a book really a book when it exists only as a digital file? CBC producer Sean Prpick goes between the covers of the question.

Their web site --> http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/ and they will have the file downloadable.

[Elfwreck]

"rapid rise of the e-reader?" What, over the course of the last 11 years? Longer, if you count the Sony whatever-that-was from waaaay back when? (Yeah, I know they mean "rapid growth & public awareness of the e-reader," which is indeed recent.) Because if they're babbling about "the biggest change since Gutenberg," they really need to acknowledge that ebooks have been around for 40 years; the dedicated reading device is just another step on that path.

<em>"is a book really a book when it exists only as a digital file?"</em>

Setting aside the ridiculousness of that question--because if it's not, what did Locke sell a million of--there is a real issue that publishers and authors aren't dealing with: how do we define "book" if not by the format?

There's always been plenty of printed material that isn't "books." Pamphlets, flyers, posters, certificates, forms to fill in, schedules and price charts, greeting cards, mimeographed school assignments, newspapers, magazines... endless types of "words on paper" that nobody thought of as books, unless a great many of them were assembled in one place, in a different format from their usual.

Ebooks changes that. Is a download of this week's NYTimes a "book?" Is a single poem in ePub format a "book?" Is a list of items-on-sale with pictures & prices a "book?"

We're already dealing with individual short stories being sold as "ebooks."

Ebook libraries & navigation systems really aren't up for dealing with this; they were designed with something like paper libraries in mind. They don't have a way to show that 15 short stories are somehow "less" than 15 novels in a series; they all take up the same amount of space on the listings. The nav systems don't sort fiction from nonfiction (unless the end user has set it up), and don't address issues of "this thing I've put in the reader, it's not really an ebook." (I put my bus schedules in mine. And hotel priority membership cards. And PDF payment receipts.)

Sometime soon, especially as tablets get more popular, the line between "document" and "book" is going to get blurry enough to bother a lot of people--and someone, whether that's a software writer or device manufacturer, is going to figure out how to do something about that. (Yeah, that's vague. I'm pondering the issues, not predicting solutions.)

[crich70]

Originally Posted by PeterT

This evening, CBC Radio One on their Ideas program had on


Their web site --> http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/ and they will have the file downloadable.

I'm having a bit of trouble finding the actual download link.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by crich70

I'm having a bit of trouble finding the actual download link.

Try http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/201...ng-the-book-1/

Located off the "Past Episodes" area on the right.

[crich70]

It shows me a list of past episodes but how do you download? All I can find are links in the form of html pages.

[OtterBooks]

Yes, ebooks will accelerate the dumbing down of books, but so what? Sooner the better, I say. A few more epidemics would be good as well.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by crich70

It shows me a list of past episodes but how do you download? All I can find are links in the form of html pages.

I see a link "Listen to Closing The Book" ....

[J. Strnad]

From the intro, it sounds like pretty familiar ground to Mobileread readers. I didn't want to listen to the episode because I like to, you know, read stuff and skim the familiar arguments, but I do thank you for bringing this to our attention. If it weren't late at night (for me) and if I weren't eager to hop into bed for some ebook reading, I'd give it a listen.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by PeterT

This evening, CBC Radio One on their Ideas program had on


Their web site --> http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/ and they will have the file downloadable.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm listening now.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I see a link "Listen to Closing The Book" ....

Yes, but when I try to save the mp3 all I can find is a html page.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Setting aside the ridiculousness of that question--because if it's not, what did Locke sell a million of--there is a real issue that publishers and authors aren't dealing with: how do we define "book" if not by the format?

Don't forget, "ebook" is a relatively new term being used to describe a relatively new format. Eventually, it will be no more unique than "paperback," and will take its place in the bowels of our lexicon as a descriptor of a specific "format" of book, like "paperback" or "ePub," required only when the book is being purchased.

Then, instead of the somewhat meaningless use of "ebook" to suggest a subset of literature (digital, cheap and crappy), literature will be defined by the appropriate genres or markets again.

[outlander78]

Thanks for linking to this. I've just listened to the podcast, and enjoyed it - especially the bits from the Kobo CEO.

cheers,
Andrew