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News & ArtsTuesday, October 20, 2009
Books Against the Book
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 12:23 PM
The Wall Street Journal has a pretty great editorial up right now. It's about e-book readers and fighting the future. In particular, I love this passage, about someone who thought this crazy new technology, the book, would never catch on. He preferred hand-copied texts:
Trithemius had stronger arguments against the newfangled technology of the press: Printed books could never match the beauty and uniqueness of a copied text; copying produced a state of contemplation which was spiritually beneficial; and copying was a way of reducing error, which indeed it was at first.His central claim was that hand-produced books were inherently holy.
I personally don't think that either the Kindle nor the Nookie Reader are the way of the future. But there's going to be something soon that will make e-readers look like the obvious choice to a whole lot of people.
1
"They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown." -- Carl Sagan
2
Has the dedicated e-reader caught on though? Anecdotally, I live in and commute with their prime demo, and I've only seen two so far. If I had to guess, at best I see these being a niche the iPod is becoming (albeit not nearly as large a niche), and like the iPod, future generations of smart phones will mostly replace these devices.
5
As cell phones become more and more multi-purpose devices, the actual "phone" part of them is sucking more and more.
My first cell phones were clunky, but at least they did their job.
My last two cell phones were/are loaded with all sorts of bells and whistles but they fucked up half the actual phone calls I tried to make.
I'd like a cell phone that's just a phone. Nothing else. Maybe I should get one of those stupid Jitterbug cells and look like a geezer.
Sorry, I know this is a e-reader thread, not a cell phone thread, but since cell phones are trying to be all things to all people, well...
My first cell phones were clunky, but at least they did their job.
My last two cell phones were/are loaded with all sorts of bells and whistles but they fucked up half the actual phone calls I tried to make.
I'd like a cell phone that's just a phone. Nothing else. Maybe I should get one of those stupid Jitterbug cells and look like a geezer.
Sorry, I know this is a e-reader thread, not a cell phone thread, but since cell phones are trying to be all things to all people, well...
6
They need a distribution model, not a reader. They already have a pretty good reader on the desk and lap of most Americans. The "great reader" is a luxury upgrade.
7
With books you don't have to buy a new one every 4 months to keep up with the technological "advances."
8
Farenheit 451's premise was that as books were outlawed people became the books by commiting the text to memory for posterity.
A global databse of redundant copies of public domain knowledge accessable by a single mobile device will ensure the widest disemination of our culture.
The successful e-book model will catch on when the book portion is a function of the personal data assistant. A fully integrated PDA capable of managing and assisting it's user will provide literary entertainment only as an afterthought, not as a driving function.
A global databse of redundant copies of public domain knowledge accessable by a single mobile device will ensure the widest disemination of our culture.
The successful e-book model will catch on when the book portion is a function of the personal data assistant. A fully integrated PDA capable of managing and assisting it's user will provide literary entertainment only as an afterthought, not as a driving function.
10
I'll adopt when they make a reader that is in color and looks like and actual book. I see great things with this tech, but they're not quite there yet.
11
Plate though writing would denigrate the mind and we would remember nothing.
radio is trash, read a book
movies are garbage
TV is a wasteland
The inner-webs is full of penis enlargement ads and porn
blah, blah, blah
radio is trash, read a book
movies are garbage
TV is a wasteland
The inner-webs is full of penis enlargement ads and porn
blah, blah, blah
12
I love the idea, but I'm terrified to bring the thing to the beach or pool for fear of it getting even slightly wet and croaking. And if I'm really digging a book, I might read it all the way through--what's the battery life on those gadgets? @10's got a point.
13
I too am holding out for at least 24 bit color on a screen that is not backlit (color e-ink?), proper hyphenation and justification, and a resolution at least as good as a trade paperback (1200 dpi?). Oh, and only a couple hundred dollars, too.
14
Imagine a world where you can't lend a book to a friend. Imagine a world where books have no resale value. Imagine a world where the vendor can recall a book that you bought -- wait, we already have that world.
Further, I can read any book ever made. However, I can't play back a VHS tape any more.
Further, I can read any book ever made. However, I can't play back a VHS tape any more.
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