It would be a rare household that is completely without books. They are given as gifts for Christmas and birthdays, and provide us with both knowledge and entertainment - but change is in the air.
The relentless march of the electronic age is now threatening the traditional pages of paper, bound together and with words printed on them. This is a costly way of distributing what we choose to read and Amazon founder - Jeff Bezos is suggesting a paperless solution.
The " Kindle " is an electronic device about the size of the average book - but much thinner - which can display the story that interests us as we scroll it across the screen.
Whether this will replace the traditional book depends on many things. Gaining acceptance will be critical. It is asking readers to completely change their habits - and as any inventor of a new product knows - that is a big ask !
Price will be another factor. Books are becoming dearer and if this Kindle is cheap and efficient it will find favour with at least some people.
What seems absolutely certain is that we are about to be subjected to a selling campaign to introduce this new method of book publishing.
It is an innovation that has promise - and it could be the biggest change in our lives since the early days of the personal computer.
I don't think that the electronic form of a book can replace the intrinsic enjoyment of reading the paper version. There is a range of 'rules' including the issue of those who dare to turn over the corner of the page vs those who keep the book in pristine condition and use a proper book mark. Then there is the joy of being the very first person to read the words on the page of a brand new copy of a book. Then there are the memories of youth, remember actually seeing/reading some of the forbidden words in your first 'grown up book' and how the frequency of going back and reading THAT chapter,left a permanent strech in the book's binding...so it was easy to find those new words or the book always seemed to fall open at THAT page.
ReplyDeleteAh....long live la paper version of la book!!!!