Seriously thoughtful They're still talking about Mildew.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

So, here we are, beginning the second decade of the 21st century... ebooks are beginning to sell, ebook reading devices are everywhere, major authors are thinking about ditching their publishers for a better cut of the pie through digital media, and the digital future looks so bright, you gotta wear shades.

Yet, when I find myself talking to people about ebooks, I still hear people defend the printed book in the same old ways: It doesn't feel like plastic. It looks like it always has. It has that wonderful, slightly mildew-y smell to it.

People. Defending mildew.

As a futurist, I'm beside myself. I personally don't understand how people can deny that ebooks are better than printed books: The versatility and flexibility of ebooks, compared to printed books, is undeniable. The ability to carry your entire library with you at all times seems like a no-brainer. The expanding list of devices is almost a wretched excess of choices. The expanding list of authors that are available digitally, growing faster than the number of printed authors, is nothing but desirable.

And people still tell me they want mildew. They want faded ink and bad contrast. They want pages so thin you could see the letters from the other side showing through. They want broken spines, torn brown paper and the occasional bug squished between pages.

It's like defending Hiroshima, back in the good-old days when there was radiation.

It's like condemning my car because it doesn't have a horse attached to it. Or criticizing my television watching, because the shows aren't in wonderful black-and-white, or because my TV doesn't have dials to turn to tune the shows in.

I can understand liking something old... but not revering it when it wasn't as good as what you have now. How is it that so many people seem outright afraid of this one technology, especially when they don't seem to be afraid of others? Where did we aficionados go wrong when we promoted ebooks to others? Why, after over 15 years of trying to build recognition of ebooks, do people think we're crazy to read them? Really... do we look that crazy?

Yes, I'm looking for serious answers to these questions... for one thing, to help me to sell my books to others, and not just people in this forum. To help me figure out how to speak to those who are afraid of innovation, even when they don't know they are afraid. To convert people to the wave of future reading.

[Freeshadow]

reminds me of this old saying about theories and their followers - the 1st don't die.
you just have to wait for the latter ones to do so.

[desertgrandma]

Uh...............Steve?

You can no more force/insist that people to love ebooks than you can force them to accept another's beliefs.

You said it yourself.......the future is so bright, you'll need sunglasses to view it.....people WILL, and are coming around.

its just a matter of time. Look at all the e-book devices on the market, and the advertising, not to mention all the e-book readers sold/gifted this Christmas.

Just over the last year, the number of members here has zoomed. Its just not going to happen fast enough for some, like you but it will happen.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Uh...............Steve?

You can no more force/insist that people to love ebooks than you can force them to accept another's beliefs.

I know. I'm just trying to understand how they choose to phrase their resistance to ebooks... I mean, it doesn't even sound rational. Why not just say "I don't like new things?" or "I don't know where to start," instead of "I like mildew"? What's really going on here?

[Fbone]

Costs are still a factor. Even at $139 each for a family of four this is expensive plus the cost of all the books. And covers as the devices break easily.

Average person reads only a few books a year. E-readers not high priority.