Thanks to Michael for this graphic from Newsweek. 1. Do you think you will be more/less likely to reread books on an e-reader?
2. Do you think coming upon old books will be less likely?
3. Will books seem more technological than personal and will that affect your relationship with them?
4. Will houses seem barren without them?
5. Why will there be libraries if we can get anything we want online? And if there are no libraries, will we be even more tied to our computers or computer-like gadgets?
6. What about bookstores? It seems to be we are throwing a lot of babies out with this bathwater.
7. Will book covers gradually retreat in importance?
8. What about book talks and book signings? What is there to sign? It seems to me authors will gradually become more anonymous as real books begin to disappear.
It seems to be that there are many negative issues associated with e-readers. These popped into my head in seconds. I know I can't turn back the clock, but must we let technology decide our future?
24 comments:
The fact that Barnes & Noble put itself up for sale is a Bad Sign for big box bookstores. Of course, small independent bookstores close with distressing rapidity now. When you can buy a Kindle, Nook, and iPad-like device for $99 the crisis will really be upon us.
Whether we like it or not, things are changing and will continue to do so. What the future holds I have no idea.
Ever since I downloaded Amazon's free Kindle app, I've been inundated with "recommendations." A good many of them are free, some promotions for paying books, others things in the public domain. I do like the possibility of acquiring older books that might be pricey on the secondary markets. Some books I have picked up aren't available any other way(like the one I posted on Friday).
I do regret the loss of brick and mortar stores. They used to be a highlight perusing shelves for that unexpected gem. My small town lost it's sole bookstore(a Waldenbooks) years ago and my health makes a long trip(forty miles) to the nearest big box store problematic. It's the internet for me these days.
I still buy more print than eBooks but with a trip I have coming up I have to admit I like being able to carry so many books with me and snagged quite a few.
Bottom line for me: I like print, I like Kindle.
There are so many associated issues that keep popping into my head.
I wonder if they will begin to have author interviews to download along with their work--to keep readers closer to the author.
I never thoguht about the "signing" thing. Maybe authors could sign the "covers" or something, since they don't show up that well on ebooks.
I am not stupid and old-fashioned enough to say I´ll NEVER but one. Especially as I read so many foreign books and spend quite a lot on shipping. But I certainly don´t need one yet, and the idea of a bookless home abhors me!
And please don´t threaten me with the idea of making book signings superfluous. I haven´t had a chance yet! *sulking, groaning, whining*
I got to sign a pile of anthologies I had a story in last year and I am sure people treasure my signature greatly.
I've tried to read a novel on a Kindle and just couldn't. I just miss the tactile feel of a book to much. Also can't listen to audio books as my mind tends to drift away from them.
Some disadvantages otherwise are you can't buy used copies. can't resell back something that you will never read again, can't loan out copies to friends.
As with music if I can't hold it in my hand I don't feel as if I really own it.
Question 1: Yes, I am more likely to re-read a book on my e-reader than print. The desire to re-read a book is usually sudden and unexpected. I have over five hundred e-books on my Kindle, I can locate and start reading with just a couple of clicks. Imagine trying to find one book lost in a library of over five hundred print books.
Question 2: No, thanks to the Kindle and the re-release of countless out of print print books I have discovered such authors as Ross Thomas, Norbert Davis, and many others. If Google and Project Gutenberg have their way every book ever written will be available for anyone to read. Even the great Library of Alexandria failed to do that.
Question 3: I seem to be in the minority here but I read for the content. If my favorite writer was writing a story in crayon on the sidewalk, I would be walking behind him reading. It should not be about the format, it should be about the word.
Question 4: Less cluttered. maybe. I have been in homes of people who don't own a book, they seem to find stuff to fill the shelves. This is accepting the idea that print will vanish like the movie theater did when TV replaced it.
Question 5: Today you will find the most popular section in many libraries is the computer. Libraries have served and will continued to serve the part of the public that can not afford to pay for information and entertainment. I have read where Sony and other e-reader suppliers are working with the libraries to have e-books available to all.
Question 6: I worked for Tower Records and Books. Music survived. And it took awhile before people stopped missing the blacksmith but the world moved on. Again the format is not as important as the content. Besides I believe the bookstore will survive and in the future look more like the Apple store than Barnes & Noble.
Question 7: Yes. Remember the old LP covers. When things change there are always parts of the old we miss.
Question 8: Book readings where authors travel the country (now often at their own expense) and talk to less than hundred people at a time. E-book readings where the author can talk to countless potential readers by e-mail and websites without the author leaving his house. Book signings could convert to the way you collect autographs from famous stars, while the author signing an 8 by 10 photo or card (There is the role for your loved book cover). Promotions for the writer and the books will become less expensive and maybe even less time consuming for the author. I find authors are becoming more personal to me as I read their daily blogs or websites.
Patti - Such good, good questions! I believe that reading, like anything else, evolves. Language does, people do, etc.. I, personally, will probably always prefer paper books. I am just like that. But order online? Sure. I think that those who sell reading material need to keep in mind that what they sell is reading material. If companies find innovative ways to do that that people want, they can change with the times. Not saying I like all the changes; trying to be pragmatic, actually. I'm thinking of companies like the makers of wagons. They didn't realize they were in the transportation business, not the wagon business...
Michael has made me feel quite optimistic and I thank him for that.
Margot, what a good line about the wagon.
Steve-I have the same problem with most audio books and I keep thinking that will happen with Kindle too. I am so easily distracted and the idea of another electronic device in my life takes getting used too. But I will probably have one by Christmas.
I will probably own a second-generation iPad by next summer. I kid the librarians at my local library that they're BLOCKBUSTER II. The first thing you see when you enter is racks of DVDs. Then the computers. The books are way in the back. One librarian told me that 50% of the librarian budget goes to buying DVDs.
I wonder if they earn that money back. Our library charges a dollar. Some seem to loan them for free.
What really irks me more is when I see they have bought a dozen copies of the newest James Patterson and then three months later sell them for $1. If people want to read him, can't they wait a couple of weeks?
George, our local library has a couple of librarians behind the desk but mostly they just sit there and direct traffic. When you walk in there are the DVDs, followed by shelves with the new books and reserved items (growing every day). You self-check your books and only deal with the librarian if there is a problem with checking out an item. Sad.
As for e-books, I still vote no. I've got enough unread books on hand to last me for years, and after that I can reread. I have read stuff online - all the Chekhov stories, some Simenons and one 'real' novel (to see how I'd like it): a serial rereading of HUCKLEBERRY FINN.
I can see the convenience aspect but I prefer the real thing.
Jeff M.
They should keep the DVDs in the back. Maybe there'd be a chance they might notice a book on the way. One thing, no one takes out music anymore but us. Bring back Michael. I am getting depressed again.
pattinase, it will be ok. The written word will always survive if only so people can read reviews of their favorite video game or decided what DVD to download.
As for books in the back of the library. I was in charge of marketing the book section at Tower Records in Sherman Oaks, CA. We outsold many of the Tower Bookstores (Tower began as a bookstore). I had books visible and as close to the front door as possible. The reason was the customer was there for music cd or movie videos or DVD. Books were an impulse buy like the candy and magazines in a grocery store. I bet libraries put the books in back for the same reason, especially if they charge for rental and the books are free.
Just found the perfect fight poster for the books vs e-books fight.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/03/back-story-books-vs-e-books.html
But even the tale of the tape is changing, as author royalties through Amazon's Kindle may go up to 70%.
I think the ereader changes also bring a lot of positives: people buy more books (that's been what I've heard from those who own one), and the many other good changes Michael mentioned.
I think the good will outweigh the bad in the end.
Librarians don't just check out books: they manage information. Initial hue and cry that libraries would be no longer needed have instead been replaced by the reality that people who know where to find information are more necessary than ever. That goes for librarians and also for all of the gatekeepers who will wade through the massive wave of material that's now available (and only going to increase): independent sellers, reviewers, critics.
Books aren't going to disappear overnight. Look at the music industry: CDs pushed out vinyl from about 1990 and are now being eclipsed by digital downloads. However, people still buy vinyl. Not in the same numbers -- it's become a luxury item for a specialty market. Books will recede even more slowly because the technology of the book is so efficient.
B&N -- and for that matter, the biggest publishers -- are victims of their reactions to all this change: to steal from Dorothy, putting all their eggs in just a few bastards, i.e. carrying only the big names from the big publishers. Many people want that, but an awful lot of people don't. They want what they can't get on the shelves at B&N.
Piggybacking on Michael's comments: when I appear somewhere for my ebooks (and for the print ones as well) I have promotional postcards with the covers on them. They're good to give something tangible in the hopes that people will remember to buy one when they get home, but they can also be signed. They can even be sent. I've had people abroad write and tell me how much they enjoyed a book and say it's a pity I'm not nearby to sign it, and I send them a signed card as a thanks. While I love giving readings, the thought of not having to schlep to places on the dubious hope of having a crowd of buyers and instead, just broadcast from my laptop -- well, that's fine by me. Although I would probably have to get out of my pyjamas for it.
I think the competition isn't between paper books and e-books right now, I think it's between e-sellers and book stores. E-sellers seem to be winning. I buy almost all of my books online right now. But they are print books. E-readers and computers tire my eyes more quickly, it seems. I'm also a collector of vintage pulps and I love the feel of a book in my hands. It'll probably be a couple of generations at least, until demand for paper books fade away, or maybe they never will.
Anonymous-9
Ah, electronic spam v. paper spam!
Sadly, one advantage of e-books (and e-news sources) is a relative lack of deforestation and publishing waste. Few industries are more inefficient.
I read many books on e-books, but I still have mixed feelings about e-book readers.
As someone who has lived in small towns most of his life, towns with no bookstores, I see them as especially useful in the small-town circumstance.
We tried to support small bookstores in cities within 100 miles or so of where we lived, but I could never buy enough books to get me through.
I think living in small towns before the advent of the Internet is one reason I'm so loyal to Mystery Guild. Looking through their little pamphlets was like walking through a bookstore looking at the shelves and jumping at something you didn't know about before.
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