Printed books will not exist after sometime

[Jessica Lares]

They would never ban the cutting of trees. Out of all the things we're doing in this world, cutting trees is probably one of the very small problems if it even is (I don't think it is personally because like what someone else said, we plant new ones).

[webroot]

Originally Posted by Bald Eagle

Paper will go away when a more convenient medium comes around. We do not do our accounting on clay tablets anymore, laws are no longer set in stone, papyrus and vellum have been set aside for that flimsy, perishable paper thingy.
Any reasonably flat surface can and has been used for writing. Something more durable and easier to 'program' (i.e. to write on) than paper surely will come along.

Could that be ultra cheap surface maybe made of opaque polythene material. but then pbooks will not keep their same old attraction, this means replacement cannot be just any.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

They would never ban the cutting of trees. Out of all the things we're doing in this world, cutting trees is probably one of the very small problems if it even is (I don't think it is personally because like what someone else said, we plant new ones).

It's certainly a very major problem in areas like the Amazon rain forest, but deforestation there isn't being done for paper production, of course.

[Salgueiros]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Trees are used, because the best plant for paper production is illegal to grow in 40+ states of the United States, and in those states where it is legal to grow, legal production is extremely limited.

I read about one guy that was going to start growing it, until he discovered that his little back forty, was going to produce a larger crop than the state allowed. Its pretty bad when a dirt-poor, washed-up ex-farmer owns more land, than the state allows for the crop to be grown on.

What plant is better than eucalyptus? I don't know any.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Salgueiros

What plant is better than eucalyptus? I don't know any.

In Western Europe at least, most woodpulp for paper production is made from softwoods like spruce and pine, which have the advantage that they're very fast-growing trees.

[Salgueiros]

Pine trees do not grow faster than eucalyptus if they both are in optimal conditions.

Paper books will survive simply because they don't require a technological means of consumption. I suspect that we will become much more selective about what we publish on paper. Convenience will be a large factor: ebooks will be easier to obtain and provide far fewer hurdles for those who maintain a personal library.

Advocates of ebooks seem to overlook many of the issues with ebooks. While it is true that electronic resources are easier to replicate and can be preserved indefinitely, it requires far more intervention. The media that ebooks are stored on is usually much more frail than the media print books are stored on, necessitating backups. The standards used to encode ebooks are also far more dynamic. That is especially true for DRM, but also holds true for the underlying file formats. This isn't impossible to overcome, but does require knowledge and planning on the part of the user.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

If a Rabbi deems reading an eBook on Shabbos is kosher, then pbooks will not be retained. But until such a ruling is made, the Shabbos-reading market might be big enough to sustain pbooks.

I'd like to see the Rabbi that can pull that off we tend to be very traditional, by design.

It would have to be a consensus amongst the top poskim before it would stick, and I cannot see any of them justifying a total redaction of the ban on using electrical gadgets on Shabbos.

TBH ebooks in the Jewish religious world have not really caught on a lot from what I have seen.
Not because of Shabbos issues -- just because we are mostly behind the eight ball when it comes to technology. "They" (fringe nuts) have already tried banning the internet, and compromising on mandatory filtering... most amusing.

[Bald Eagle]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Paper books will survive simply because they don't require a technological means of consumption.

They do, however, require quite advanced technology for production, e.g. white paper or acid-free inks are not simple to obtain. Paper has been around for some time, e-books (the content as well as the carrier) are still new and evolving.

As for tradition, if it looks like a scroll, can be read like a scroll, ..., tastes like a scroll, maybe it will be accepted.

[WillAdams]

Right now, ebooks are stuck w/ a dichotomy of:

- lowest-common denominator of ebook format (.epbub, .pdf, &c.)
- being significant enough to merit existence as a separate app (certain magazines, publications such as The Elements for iPad (which has made the jump to a physical book))

For a paper book, it doesn't much matter if it's a deluxe coffee table edition or a cheap paperback --- storage / management / filing is much the same --- for ebooks, there's this problem of books as apps which then don't get filed w/ one's ebooks (perhaps there could be a .epub stub which would open the app?)

Until ebook formats become as flexible as paper, allowing things as arbitrary as:

- pop-up books
- fancy slip covers
- memorial insertions and signatures (while I hated that it was so expensive, I was thrilled to get a canceled check w/ Manly Wade Wellman's signature when I got the limited edition _The Complete John Thunstone_ (it's also signed by the editor and illustrator))

&c.

There will be a market for paper books --- there's also the question of how one would do a limited edition ebook....

That said, there have been a number of technological tour-de-forces which show that there's a lot of untapped potential for ebooks:

- http://bemboszoo.com/ --- requires Flash --- mute speakers if animal noises aren't appropriate
- http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/jav.../elements.html
- http://www.atpm.com/4.06/page13.shtml --- I really wish this were still workable and available --- the codex viewer was way cool
- http://periodictable.com/ipad/
- http://motionmountain.net/ --- free physics textbook as a .pdf w/ animation

Any others? Please post follow-ups in this thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...13#post3045013 (I already added the Living Books successor Wanderful).

[Tarana]

I think that both e book and paper book will continue to coexist during your lifetime. Trees can be grown. The materials to make devices or power electricity are going to be just as limited in 100 years. People who only occasionally read prefer paper books and since that group buys the majority of new books (due to their larger numbers), that is the group that will be catered to. Remember that the one study showed that the average reader only buys 12 books a year. Are the folks who read on the cell phones part of that 12 book a year group or the minority who read way more? That is what is going to drive it.

[SleepyBob]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I'd like to see the Rabbi that can pull that off we tend to be very traditional, by design.

It would have to be a consensus amongst the top poskim before it would stick, and I cannot see any of them justifying a total redaction of the ban on using electrical gadgets on Shabbos.

TBH ebooks in the Jewish religious world have not really caught on a lot from what I have seen.
Not because of Shabbos issues -- just because we are mostly behind the eight ball when it comes to technology. "They" (fringe nuts) have already tried banning the internet, and compromising on mandatory filtering... most amusing.

This reminded me about automatic elevators and I went off for some googling. Man, electricity and shabbat is one complicated topic!

[Froide]

Apologies if someone already posted this

Natalie Robehmed. (This story appears in the March 2, 2015 issue of Forbes). "E-Books Aren't Killing Print".

[Demingy]

This thread reminds me of the statements made 15-some-odd years ago about how "most" offices were going to "soon" be paperless. I know some companies have managed to move that way but definitely not in the proportions predicted and "most" are still far from getting there. I don't think that ebooks are going to replace paper books any time soon. Definitely not within my lifetime (and I'm almost 37)

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by SleepyBob

This reminded me about automatic elevators and I went off for some googling. Man, electricity and shabbat is one complicated topic!

Tell me about it!
The water fountain in the dorm has an electric button, so no cold water on shabbos (too lazy to refrigerate it myself ).
Fortunately the schoool building has an old-fashioned water fountain with a twist knob, so we can use that! Good thing too, as I actually like drinking water... (apparently I am weird, who knew???)

Ooooh, cooking is another fun one.