Seth Godin: An end of books, and a new golden age

[Istvan diVega]

Pardon the OT, but why are people under the impression that the LP is dead? Sales of LPs have been resurgent for years and are still rising. Not to mention that there are many more quality turntables around than there ever were pre-CD.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Istvan diVega

Pardon the OT, but why are people under the impression that the LP is dead? Sales of LPs have been resurgent for years and are still rising. Not to mention that there are many more quality turntables around than there ever were pre-CD.

Yes, because some (IMHO) snobistic people think that the LP sounds better than a well-mastered (important!) CD, despite all the evidence against it. The only thing I hear when listening to an LP (I've digitezed some, on a high-end turntable) is a lot off hiss, pops and crackles that need to be removed. And yes, these LP's and the turntable are clean and as dust-free as possible.

This is the same as people that keep claiming that a 1400 page book is easier to read in paper than it is on an e-reader, even though the e-reader is smaller, thinner, lighter and therefore easier to carry and to hold for longer periods of time.

[Istvan diVega]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

The only thing I hear when listening to an LP (I've digitezed some, on a high-end turntable) is a lot off hiss, pops and crackles that need to be removed. And yes, these LP's and the turntable are clean and as dust-free as possible.

You're obviously doing it wrong then. Read a guide or ask someone who knows what they're doing.

This is the same as people that keep claiming that a 1400 page book is easier to read in paper than it is on an e-reader, even though the e-reader is smaller, thinner, lighter and therefore easier to carry and to hold for longer periods of time.

Now you're just making stuff up. I very much prefer ebooks, just as I prefer LPs.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Istvan diVega

You're obviously doing it wrong then. Read a guide or ask someone who knows what they're doing.

I've been digitizing music for around 15 years. I know what I'm doing. CD's blow LP's off the planet in sound quality, convenience, and obviously, conversion speed. I find it impossibly hard to believe how people keep claiming that LP's, which are basically based on 1870's technology (or at the very best, 1970's technology for the latest versions), can best a CD, which is a technology that's more than 100 years newer.

IMHO it's just nostalgia, and the sense that "everything was better, way back when."

Now you're just making stuff up.

I'm not the one saying that paper books are easier to read. That's said by all the people who write articles trying to convince other people that paper books are better and easier to handle than ebooks. If the technology doesn't pose any problems to you (like, using a computer), then ebooks have a gazillion advantages, apart from some specific exceptions such as picture books and reference books.

[Namekuseijin]

you know books are dying when there are far more me-too writers than readers available

[manfred63]

We heard just the same when Digital Printing (Books on Demand) got popular some years ago. Traditional books will die, no need for publishers anymore, and so fourth. Digital Printing indeed changed a lot but most of it is unrecognized by the normal buyer of a printed book.

I've seen too many similar predictions to believe in any of them.

On the long term a printed book is something that you really own, something that you can put into your shelf, something that you can can borrow to a friend. I'm sure that E-Books will find their place (especially in library and educational systems) but I can't see anything that leads to the thought that an end of printed books is coming.

[SteveEisenberg]

Mike Shatzkin isn't a big favorite around here, but this, published on Wednesday, sounds right to me:

http://www.idealog.com/blog/losing-b...s-for-readers/

Online book buying — whether print or digital — takes business away from bookstores. So bookstores close or reduce shelf space. That decreases both their attraction and their convenience, which makes online buying increase even more. So bookstores close or reduce shelf space further. (This is called a “vicious cycle”.) . . .

. . . conclusion was confirmed in Monday’s Times with a front-page story about bookstores turning to charity to stay afloat. If anybody believes this is a sustainable strategy, I’d like to hear the explanation.

There still will be a small market for printed books, just like there is a small market for LP's. Heck, there are still buggey makers. Just not a lot.

As for OP article, I think it is right about bookstores. But libraries have more legs. It's going to take quite a long time for most of the books in my local physical library to be available as eBooks. And fewer people borrowing books doesn't harm a library's finances as quickly and directly as fewer people buying harms a bookstore. Also, it's easier for the library to shift emphasis -- such as to community activities -- because they don't need to be monetized.

[SteveEisenberg]

A point about paper books surviving because of demand: Consumers do not always rule. Remember when they replaced sewn books with perfect binding AKA glued? This really, I think the technical term is, sucked. Books started cracking when fully opened, and promptly fell apart. Glued bindings have gotten better, but are still not as good as sewn. And we didn't want glue. And sewn didn't cost much. But glue was forced on us anyway.

Cost rules. Because of cost, I think that we are going to see the public pushed to eBooks whether they like it or not. Five or ten years from now, when paper is the smallest part of the market, that will cause paper book prices to skyrocket. Then most of the paper holdouts will feel they have to come over the our side.

[Katsunami]

In th end, technology (the computer) and internet will destroy everything.

Everything will be in a box: music, books, movies, games... A home will be have nothing in it except for some furniture, an all in one computer / TV, and a portable computing device. Even though I like technology and (some of) the conveniences it brings, I don't know if I like that prospect.

[doctorow]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Everything will be in a box: music, books, movies, games... A home will be have nothing in it except for some furniture, an all in one computer / TV, and a portable computing device.

Add one sofa and the microwave, and you just desribed my home.

[Mivo]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Everything will be in a box: music, books, movies, games... A home will be have nothing in it except for some furniture, an all in one computer / TV, and a portable computing device.

This may just be me, but that sounds pretty attractive! A modern form of a frugal, spartanic lifestyle, without all the clutter and the baggage that ends up possessing its alleged owner. For a few years now, I have been in the mindset that stuff gets you stuck, and I started to get rid of a lot of said stuff in my life. Almost completely switching to e-books has been the most visible consequence of that. Eventually I'd like to get to a point where all that's important to me fits into a suitcase.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by piperclassique

Uh huh. Anyone still got a typewriter? Carbon paper?

You can still buy them at Staples who aren't in the antique business and out to make a profit on everything they carry, so I assume some people do.

Helen

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I've been digitizing music for around 15 years. I know what I'm doing. CD's blow LP's off the planet in sound quality, convenience, and obviously, conversion speed. I find it impossibly hard to believe how people keep claiming that LP's, which are basically based on 1870's technology (or at the very best, 1970's technology for the latest versions), can best a CD, which is a technology that's more than 100 years newer.

IMHO it's just nostalgia, and the sense that "everything was better, way back when."



I'm not the one saying that paper books are easier to read. That's said by all the people who write articles trying to convince other people that paper books are better and easier to handle than ebooks. If the technology doesn't pose any problems to you (like, using a computer), then ebooks have a gazillion advantages, apart from some specific exceptions such as picture books and reference books.

I have a tin ear, play it loud, play it long, I can't tell the difference. Some music I like and some I dislike, but it has to be a really bad quality recordibg for me to notice.

I have had people tell me, and I actually believe them that analog recordings get a better tone and more subtle nuances than digital. I may even have experienced it myself, but due to my tin ear, was probably the power of suggestion.

Still with the right equipment analog recordings can get more detail. Digital is
two values only and analog can theoretically have infinite values.

Helen

[crich70]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

A point about paper books surviving because of demand: Consumers do not always rule. Remember when they replaced sewn books with perfect binding AKA glued? This really, I think the technical term is, sucked. Books started cracking when fully opened, and promptly fell apart. Glued bindings have gotten better, but are still not as good as sewn. And we didn't want glue. And sewn didn't cost much. But glue was forced on us anyway.

Cost rules. Because of cost, I think that we are going to see the public pushed to eBooks whether they like it or not. Five or ten years from now, when paper is the smallest part of the market, that will cause paper book prices to skyrocket. Then most of the paper holdouts will feel they have to come over the our side.

I don't remember when they changed from sewn to glued books in general but I do remember when TV guide was stapled together and how they switched to a glued binding for that. Back then the TV guide was about the same size as a Reader's Digest book. It seemed they had a lot more in it back then too than in any book of any size about what is on TV now. Of course they had better programming back then too so I guess it balances out.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by crich70

I don't remember when they changed from sewn to glued books in general but I do remember when TV guide was stapled together and how they switched to a glued binding for that. Back then the TV guide was about the same size as a Reader's Digest book. It seemed they had a lot more in it back then too than in any book of any size about what is on TV now. Of course they had better programming back then too so I guess it balances out.

Passports are still sewn. But they are thin and easy to handle by a sewing machine. Sewing machines that can stitch something as thick as a book are very expensive and slow.