There's hope for the survival of the book yet

This is a great article about the future of books...not that any of us ever thought they wouldn't be around forever or anything like that...


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/opinion/30gleick.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Pam.
very interesting and informative. The bottom line seems to be that having a book in ones hands to read will continue to be the preferred method. That is also my preference.

Interesting, especially about Google and the type of books that no longer will be printed.

I though it was neat too - an interesting resurgence of old books cannot hurt at all, to my way of thinking. We could be around forever...

Infinite shelf life!

Malcolm

I was particularly struck by the line, "Now, at this point one expects
to hear a certain type of sentimental plea for the old-fashioned book —
how you like the feel of the thing resting in your hand, the smell of
the pages, the faint cracking of the spine when you open a new book..."

Yep, that was my sentimental plea you may have heard, although I never
enjoyed the "faint cracking of the spine" part. I hold old books in
great respect, and as I have mentioned before, the smell of an old book
reminds me of my grandfather, whose small library I now own.

When my contract for Keechie ends in 2012, maybe I will give them a call...

It's hard to see a world without book in one form or another, be it paper or digital. After all they have been around for a very long time, surviving the end of the Roman empire and the dark ages. They were even being made during the dark ages just take a look at The Book Of The Kells written in Iona in about 800 AD.

hairymob,
I agree. I'm waiting for someone to suggest taking the bible out of print. I can imagine the s==t hitting the fan - big time.

I don't think I will ever switch to an eReader. I've seen the Sony one and the Kindle - nice pieces of technology, but not my style.

I really think that the technology needs to move forward a bit as well as get a lot cheeper before people take them more seriously. A colour screen might help

Wow, religous spam. Is it made from grinding up sacred cows?

I don't like the Sony of Kindle all that much. I'm looking forward to some different approaches, though, which would suit me fine. The tech is here, just nobody is hooking it up to books in a user-friendly, affordable way.

Such as:




Or:



Pico projector

Lin, you’ve made some pretty wild remarks on this forum, and I don’t recall anyone slamming you. Religious or not, I believe in Susie S’s or anyone else’s right to post whatever she or they want as long as it isn’t harmful to anyone else.

Lin, I must agree with Brenda, that was tacky.

Over the last few years I have read a lot on my computer, and of course, that is where I have been writing and I read and reread that as well.

I don't like reading on a computer. I like reading in a comfortable chair with any and all necessary provisions readily available. I also like shopping in a conventional bookstore, where I can pick up a book and leaf through it and skim the pages as I go before I make my final selection.

I have two sons. One is 20 and a business major and the other is 19 and a history major. They both spend a lot of time on their computers, and they both love to read (preferably anything other than their textbooks.) They like reading REAL books on paper.

I suspect that someday in the future trees may be in short enough supply that paper is a luxury and not something we take so for granted, and then we'll have to do our reading through some technological wonder, but until then I think books will flourish; at least as long as people still dream and are curious.