Will Paper books fade away?

[JSWolf]

Thing is, if you use an iPhone or iPod Touch with anything that keeps the screen going and/or makes heavy enough use of the processor, you will end up with a flat battery in no time.

[fugazied]

They will fade away just like vinyl.
We will have little boutique companies who will do limited runs (1 to 10'000) copies of a book for companies or individuals. They will be EXPENSIVE because the carbon emissions cost for creating paper books will be considered huge.

But for the masses, students and everyday readers will have a device which is like a kindle on steroids. Color touch screen, which does everything the ipod touch does (movies, internet, music, books, applications).

[thibaulthalpern]

Originally Posted by Format C:

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But how audiobooks fit in the picture (pardon the pun)?
Why they didn't replace printed text?

There is a simple response to your question. Audio (thus speech) is linear. Reading doesn't have to be linear. We can skip ahead, jump back, review etc. It's very difficult to do this in audio because it does not occupy physical space. Paper occupies physical space and by that it means it can be manipulated on the physical realm which you can't in audio.

Unless you're blind, audiobooks are not going to replace printed text.

As someone who has done a lot of interviews for his research, I never work off of just the audio files (these are digital files). I transcribe them and use the printed text in order to mark them up, and use as my data. I may refer back to my audio files but the typed transcriptions is the primary form of the data, and not the audio file.

[thibaulthalpern]

By the way, I'm beginning to wonder if proponents of the elimination of paper/printed texts are those who don't have to use book sources that much in their day to day work life. Perhaps many of these proponents are only thinking within the realm of leisure reading??

For those of use who read a lot of text to do our research and use qualitative analysis and whose products are all text-based (e.g., journal articles, books, chapters, etc.), I suspect most cannot see the elimination of the printed format because only having one screen to work with for digital text even if that screen is say 30 inches, is very, very cumbersome. I would say that digital text adds some advantages over printed text but it does not replace it. Both can be used in conjunction with each other. It is not an either-or proposition.

To someone like me who works with a lot of text for a living, this seems very obvious to me.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by thibaulthalpern

There is a simple response to your question. Audio (thus speech) is linear. Reading doesn't have to be linear. We can skip ahead, jump back, review etc. It's very difficult to do this in audio because it does not occupy physical space. Paper occupies physical space and by that it means it can be manipulated on the physical realm which you can't in audio.

Not just that. For me listening to a fiction book is a qualitatively different experience than reading a fiction book. I cannot appreciate listening to fiction at all (listening to non-fiction can be OK).

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by thibaulthalpern

By the way, I'm beginning to wonder if proponents of the elimination of paper/printed texts are those who don't have to use book sources that much in their day to day work life....

Heh, you mean like lawyers?

Trust me, I'd take a LexisNexis search over a day in the library any day

[dmaul1114]

I read a ton for work since I do research and work in academia.

But I'm not big on electronic versions of scholarly journal articles etc. It's just easier for me to be able to directly highlight on them write in the margins etc. It's just quicker and easier than the annotation tools in ereaders or pdf reading software on a pc etc.

And I like having several spread out on my desk at once, vs. viewing one at a time so I can compare findings across studies easily etc. etc.

I love my ereader for novel reading, but it would take something like an e-ink tablet pc that I could write directly on my electronic documents just the same as I could a printed out PDF to get me to switch for my work documents.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

... I love my ereader for novel reading, but it would take something like an e-ink tablet pc that I could write directly on my electronic documents just the same as I could a printed out PDF to get me to switch for my work documents.

You mean, something like this?

http://www.irextechnologies.com/irexdr1000/features

[zerospinboson]

Originally Posted by Sonist

You mean, something like this?

http://www.irextechnologies.com/irexdr1000/features

More likely having 2 or 3 of these (or comparable) readers. Document switching still is slow at best at the current stage of development.
That said, in two or 3 generations (with CPUs that are able to do the things they do now in 1/10th the time) I suspect they will be a viable alternative to having multiple papers on a desk.

[dmaul1114]

Yeah, you still lose the ability to have multiple documents scattered around the desk to compare findings etc.

And I forgot to mention that it had to be affordable. I wouldn't pay more than $150-200 for something like that since I don't mind at all working with print outs. I generally don't do that kind of work outside the office so portability isn't an issue.

And at that price it would have to be a multifunction device for me to really be interested. If it's affordable, can do all that writing stuff, and be a full web browsing, e-mail, PDA etc. I'd be MUCH more apt to use it at least occasionally for that purpose since I'd have it around for the other features.

Otherwise I'm just stuck in my ways and for my academic documents and books I like just having a print out or paper book that I can easily write on, easily flip through, etc. etc.

I know, I know. This is a site of ebook lovers. But I'll probably never be a full convert and will likely just use them for leisure reading of stuff I'll only read once and not need to mark up, make notes on and flip through to look up stuff when writing scholarly articles.

But I'm kind of resistant to change. I've still yet to buy an MP3, despite that I do 95% or more of my listening on my mp3 players or computers. I just like having the actual CD and case.

[thibaulthalpern]

Originally Posted by tompe

Not just that. For me listening to a fiction book is a qualitatively different experience than reading a fiction book. I cannot appreciate listening to fiction at all (listening to non-fiction can be OK).

That's true too.

[thibaulthalpern]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Heh, you mean like lawyers?

Trust me, I'd take a LexisNexis search over a day in the library any day

Umm...I also prefer using ArticleFirst, FirstSearch, or AnthroSource any day over pouring over the library. Those are databases which often lead to online journal articles. But, it doesn't mean that once I have the article I want I only read it from the screen. I often print out things to read and mark them up. Sure, I can do a quick preliminary screening to see if I actually want the article or not. I don't need to print that out. But, there is a time when need to print out articles I want.

I don't think I could work only in a virtual environment where everything is just on my LCD screen. No way. Couldn't do it. I would lose the use of spatial memory and capacity, which is actually helpful in getting my work done. And my work is writing (analysing, theorising, supporting, etc.)

[thibaulthalpern]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I read a ton for work since I do research and work in academia.

But I'm not big on electronic versions of scholarly journal articles etc. It's just easier for me to be able to directly highlight on them write in the margins etc. It's just quicker and easier than the annotation tools in ereaders or pdf reading software on a pc etc.

And I like having several spread out on my desk at once, vs. viewing one at a time so I can compare findings across studies easily etc. etc.

I love my ereader for novel reading, but it would take something like an e-ink tablet pc that I could write directly on my electronic documents just the same as I could a printed out PDF to get me to switch for my work documents.

I agree with you for the most part.

I do like electronic versions of scholarly articles because I keep them in my reference citation manager (EndNote) where I write down summaries of what I read. However, much of the act of reading I do on paper. Some of it I do in the digital format on the LCD screen but digital annotation has not yet replaced physical annotations and markings yet.

I like the digital versions mainly for storage, accessibility, and searching. It's very easy to lose paper copies and hard to categorise physical paper copies. This is where digital outshines paper versions.

To me, digital versions and paper copies come together hand-in-hand. Neither one will replace the other for me.

[thibaulthalpern]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I know, I know. This is a site of ebook lovers. But I'll probably never be a full convert and will likely just use them for leisure reading of stuff I'll only read once and not need to mark up, make notes on and flip through to look up stuff when writing scholarly articles.

We don't have to think of ebooks and paper books as an either/or proposition but rather as a both-and possibility.

I see no reason to ever be such a fanatic about dumping one technology (paper, in this case) when using both kinds of technologies (paper and digital ebooks) can be productive.

I'm a both-and person :-)

[primbs]

Originally Posted by fugazied

They will fade away just like vinyl.
We will have little boutique companies who will do limited runs (1 to 10'000) copies of a book for companies or individuals. They will be EXPENSIVE because the carbon emissions cost for creating paper books will be considered huge.

But for the masses, students and everyday readers will have a device which is like a kindle on steroids. Color touch screen, which does everything the ipod touch does (movies, internet, music, books, applications).

Looks like some things stick around.

http://whatsonmypc.wordpress.com/200...ng-a-comeback/

Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin

"As counterintuitive as it may seem in this age of iPods and digital downloads, vinyl -- the favorite physical format of indie music collectors and audiophiles -- is poised to re-enter the mainstream, or at least become a major tributary."

"Having just gone through the process of mastering our new album for digital and for vinyl, I can say it is completely amazing how different they really sound," said lead singer and guitarist Joshua Babcock in an e-mail interview. "The way the vinyl is so much better and warmer and more interesting to listen to is a wonder."
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/m...eningpost_1029


http://feverishthoughts.com/guitar/2...g-a-come-back/

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7011708