News Farenheit 451 on HBO

[Skipper]

New trailer

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This trailer made me think: obviously the original novel was an allegory, but, from a logistical point of view, how long would all the books disappear if a Government were seriously hunting for them? I don't think it would take a long time.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I don't see why. Government seriously hunts for lots of things that never actually get removed. Drugs, guns, etc, all flourish even in the most inhospitable environments.

I'd say the biggest danger from this point of view is actually digitalization - if no one owns a physical book anymore, it becomes much easier to brute force things via computer hacks or even just taking away their electricity. That level of digitalization is still a long way off, though.

 

[Skipper]

I don't see why. Government seriously hunts for lots of things that never actually get removed. Drugs, guns, etc, all flourish even in the most inhospitable environments.

The big differences is the drugs and weapons are continuously produced, but it was clear in the original novel and in the movie that none was printing new books. And while there is a huge demand for drugs and weapons, in the novel only few misfits had stashes of books. So the total elimination of books would be plausible, simply by attrition.

 

[Tosk]

if no one owns a physical book anymore, it becomes much easier to brute force things via computer hacks or even just taking away their electricity.

I doubt you could ever get them all. Unlike with physical books which take up a lot of space, one person with a single ebook reader could preserve thousands of books.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

The big differences is the drugs and weapons are continuously produced, but it was clear in the original novel and in the movie that none was printing new books. And while there is a huge demand for drugs and weapons, in the novel only few misfits had stashes of books. So the total elimination of books would be plausible, simply by attrition.

Except I would expect that some new books would be being made, at least as long as there is a culture of considering them important (albeit an underground culture). And there is also always the issue of corruption in the ranks of those who are charged with the destruction in the first place (which is what the book is based on, anyway). As well as the problem of stashes - just because someone gets caught doesn't mean all their hidden books actually are found.

I'm not saying it would be impossible, but I don't think it would be a quick process.

I doubt you could ever get them all. Unlike with physical books which take up a lot of space, one person with a single ebook reader could preserve thousands of books.

True, though this depends on the kind of digitalization we're imagining. As long as e-readers can be preserved with absolutely no internet connection and charging the battery isn't a problem, it's fine. But if society moves to a point where technology doesn't even allow for permanently disconnecting, then all those e-readers will be wiped clean remotely and they don't even have to be found.

 

[Skipper]

Except I would expect that some new books would be being made, at least as long as there is a culture of considering them important (albeit an underground culture). And there is also always the issue of corruption in the ranks of those who are charged with the destruction in the first place (which is what the book is based on, anyway). As well as the problem of stashes - just because someone gets caught doesn't mean all their hidden books actually are found.

I'm not saying it would be impossible, but I don't think it would be a quick process.

How about we compromise and let's say that it would be difficult but feasible?

True, though this depends on the kind of digitalization we're imagining. As long as e-readers can be preserved with absolutely no internet connection and charging the battery isn't a problem, it's fine. But if society moves to a point where technology doesn't even allow for permanently disconnecting, then all those e-readers will be wiped clean remotely and they don't even have to be found.

They need to address this, because I can buy now a 30 TB 2,5'' ssd and fill it with books (a tera would be ~3,300,000 books). So I would have something that is no bigger than a wallet and it is duplicabile in few minutes.

I suppose they will say that there was a war or a terrorist attack that destroyed all the computers/hard drives/digital memories etc with some kind of EMP weapon.