E-books becoming more accepted as a form

[Kyriakos]

I stumbled upon this article: http://news.yahoo.com/wsj-best-seller-lists-e-books-113928679.html

It is about e-books becoming part of the best-seller lists, for the first time documented in celebrated journals.

I am not sure if this is a positive move, or just a neutral one. And that since i am not sure if it is positive to have e-books replace the old book form. Of course it seems unlikely that they will utterly replace it, since a book is always something different than a few lines typed on a screen, but maybe they will diminish it much like computer games took a large part of the games market, therefore ending the golden age of those older types of toys, or at least limiting their appeal to younger children.

What do you think? Is the e-book here to conquer a larger part of the market of books? And is this potentially a eulogy or a detriment to the world of literature?

 

[Artifis]

I've been watching the rise of e-books with a lot of unease. On one hand I see how convenient it would be to have books in digitised form, cheap, easy to grab and carry around, easy to scan through and even search through. Furthermore I can see why e-books would be more environmentally friendly.

On the other hand books have appealed to me in a way e-books never can. There's just something about holding a book in your hand in a corner, knowing that for the moment reality consists of just you and your book. No distractions. No internet just a click away on your e-book reader. Just the feel of flipping the paper pages through your fingers as you scan the lines.

Perhaps I'm romanticising books here too much, but for all my modernity, solid paper books will always hold a place in my heart.

And yes, I think that e-books will conquer a large part of the market due to our insatiable hunger for convenience and speed. But I think that books will always have a certain appeal. And no, it doesn't spell the end of literature. In fact, it arguably makes it easier for budding writers to let themselves be known to the world due to a lessened need for publishers. On the flip side, with the predicted boom in published work online it'll become harder and harder to find what's really worth reading out there.

 

[Silurian]

You cannot read an e book in the bath.

But they have there uses.

 

[Kyriakos]

In theory you could have books linking to other books in the electronic way, that is the notes will now open links to new pages, where you get to read more. For example an allusion to the Odyssey can be followed by a wealth of references.

But i agree that this makes the magic diminish. I always was very fond of tracking down the references, and buying the books that contained them. It is how i enlarged my spider's web of book-reading in the first place.

However e-books becoming a serious antagonist to printed books has other disadvantages: for the west (if not for the entire planet) the de facto internet language is English, so it could lead to peripheral literatures becoming even more marginalized...

 

[asbestos]

Bring on the technological revolution.

 

[NedimNapoleon]

I just like the feel of paper more than an electronic touch screen.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I despise e-books for what they will do to the real book as an art form. They have their place -- I know military personnel find them useful as a way of being able to have a lot of books in a compact space -- but I love the weight and feel of a real book in my hand.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

You cannot read an e book in the bath.

But they have there uses.

I'm pretty anxious when I read books in the bath. Always have to be careful not to drop it and to keep my hands dry.
A waterproof e-book would be the only reason for me to actually get an e-book.

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

I can be sure that e-books will continue to rise in relative to the cost of tablets going down.

 

[aronnax]

E-books are useful. It's good for study guides and revision notes. But paper books will always be better. There is nothing more satisfying than adding another book to your own personal library at home, shelves packed with books, row to row, cover to cover. Old books with velvety-like-skins, the smell of old paper, bright yellow tinges that came with age. The flip of a page, the scrapping of paper, the creases of the spine. Books are to e-books like how paintings are to photographs. They are more than just a medium for content. They are an art.

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

It's a waste of trees. And old paper smell like vomit.

 

[aronnax]

It's a waste of trees. And old paper smell like vomit.

Exam papers are a waste of trees. And you sir, have made yourself a powerful enemy!

 

[Bugfatty300]

I deleted all my e-books a while ago. Just couldn't read them while sitting at the computer. I can barely read a moderately long wikipedia entry before my eyes start to hurt.

Plus I can't keep e-books in a stack next to the toilet.

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

Try getting a tablet, Bugfatty. Especially the ones with less apps and annoying restrictions. I find them convenient at times whenever I can get some free and insert them from my desktop.

Exam papers are a waste of trees. And you sir, have made yourself a powerful enemy!

Lol, yeah. And with your avatar, it made me even laugh much more.

 

[aronnax]

Lol, yeah. And with your avatar, it made me even laugh much more.

He likes books too!

 

[Kyriakos]

What about the Babel issue? Namely that e-books will be prone to be produced more in english than any other language, and in fact non-native writers may be tempted to write their work in (often poor) english. I know some people in greek writing forums who already do that, to a degree, and i trust this is happening elsewhere as well.
Each language has a unique set of balances, effectively making translation a very difficult, if not utterly impossible task without diminishing the meaning of the original work.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

You cannot read an e book in the bath.

But they have there uses.

Well, neither can you a book, unless you have very steady hands and are sure the book won't slip out of your hands and into the water.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

Every technological advance has its Luddite detractors, who find it difficult to accept change within something they have established comfort. I'm sure there were detractors to the printing press. Mostly I'm sure it was clergy, who were the ones most disadvantaged by it, since their jobs as copiers was ripped from them.

 

[JollyRoger]

And is this potentially a eulogy or a detriment to the world of literature?

Seeing how you can get literature very inexpensively via e-book format and out-of-print books will become more accessible, I think e-books are a positive, though I still prefer hardbacks to put on my library shelf.

 

[Kyriakos]

Every technological advance has its Luddite detractors, who find it difficult to accept change within something they have established comfort. I'm sure there were detractors to the printing press. Mostly I'm sure it was clergy, who were the ones most disadvantaged by it, since their jobs as copiers was ripped from them.

It is usual for dwarfs of any and all persuasions to feel irritated by their betters.