The Future of Books

[RoJoHen]

What are your thoughts on the matter? Borders closed earlier this year, and Barnes & Noble probably won't last for too many more years unless they dramatically change the way they do things.

While I understand and share the desire to possess physical media, the movie-watching experience really isn't all that different if I stream it, download it, or watch it from the disc. The same is true of music. Whether I have a CD or I play it from my iPod, the music is still the same.

I don't believe the same can be said of books. We hold books. There is something about the smell of books and having the flip pages that just doesn't translate to an e-reader. Now, I have nothing against e-readers; I own a Nook. And while I've downloaded quite a few books to my Nook, I haven't actually read any of them. I always reach for a real, paper book instead.

I just wonder if other people have the same experiences. My favorite part of reading isn't the actual reading itself; it's wandering around the book store looking at all the new stuff, picking up titles, reading the inside jacket. I love the different shapes and sizes of books and all the cover art. I just can't imagine a world where paper books aren't around anymore.

So what do you think? What is the future of books?

 

[The Master of Tarquin Hill]

I was sitting in the dealership the other day waiting for my car to be repaired when I noticed that I was surrounded by three people using e-readers while I was the only one reading a normal regular book. I felt weird.

I am sure that books will be in plentiful supply as long as I am alive, and glad about that. I suppose that in the future reading a regular paper book will be seen as some kind of sensual niche thing, or some such.

 

[RoJoHen]

Well, I'm also kind of wondering what is going to happen to book stores. Even if paper books survive, the stores themselves might have a hard time making money to stay open. Will we have to do all of our shopping online?

I know there are a couple used book stores in my area that are still extremely popular.

 

[The Master of Tarquin Hill]

I see them turning into specialty shops that cater to a niche consumer.

 

[Starbreaker]

I completely switched over to my e-reader two years ago. I still like to go browse Barnes and Noble, but it's mostly just to see what catches my eye and to get something chocolatey at Starbucks. E-readers are becoming cheaper all the time and Amazon seems to be successfully destroying all the major book chains. I don't see any books being printed 100 years from now.

 

[RoJoHen]

Hell, 100 years from now paper itself might not even be around anymore.

And that's actually an interesting thought, too. Do you think there will be a time when people stop learning how to write?

 

[Joe Washington]

Contrary to popular belief, not all change is good. The day people cease to write would be a sad day for the human race.

In my opinion, books (the solid, cover-bound kind and not the kind downloaded into some techo gadget) will always exist. Even when the technical version of books rise in numbers, the other kind will still survive. I mean, there are god knows how many libraries around the world stocked with those books from top to bottom. What we are going to do? Burn them all down or just piles of those books in the name of progress?

We can learn to balance both types of books in the future, learning to keep a share of both because I doubt everyone is going to like only having e-readers as a way to read stories. I mean what happens when they get infected by computer viruses or break down in some other way? I'm not saying solid books aren't vulnerable but at least they can't blink out of existence when there's something wrong with them.

No e-reader can make up for the feel or smell of a book or the sensation of one's fingers flipping through the pages.

I'm sad about the fall of Borders but that doesn't mean it's the end of bookstores as we know it. Others can learn to balance the old with the new and survive.

 

[sojourner]

I bet many of the same things said about the switchover from books to ebooks were said about the switchover from scrolls to books.

 

[Shatinator]

Actually, the used books stores are thriving and getting much more attention across the nation.

The answer of the future, is actually addressed of all places Star Trek (of course).

TOS ep "Court Marshall", it is the scene where Kirk meets his lawyer- watch it some time.

My 2 cents

The
S H A T I N A T O R

 

[RJDiogenes]

I love books and I live here surrounded by piles of them that have accumulated over the course of about forty years. I do like the way they feel and smell and look, and just the fact that they are there and that I can browse through them. But the world is changing and e-books are becoming more popular, and they're (sometimes) cheaper, and they're more environmentally friendly. Judging from what I've heard, they even encourage some people to read more.

And that last part is the important thing. Reading. The stories, the poems, the art, the science, the history-- the stuff that's actually in the books. Some of us may be nostalgic for the medium, but, ultimately, the important thing is the message. Literacy. As long as that survives, I can live with my melancholy nostalgia for things made of paper.

Also, I make three times as much from my e-book as I do from my paperbacks.

 

[Starkers]

I have no great desire to ever by an e-reader, I love books, I like browsing them buying them and carting them around with me

I have no great hatred for e-readers, so long as they don't erradicate the notion of the book itself, and even if that does eventually happen I imagine it won't be for a long long time. In the UK Waterstones, Foyles, WH Smiths etc all seem to be doing ok (ish).

 

[C.E. Evans]

I see them turning into specialty shops that cater to a niche consumer.

Pretty much this.

E-books will dominate, but they won't ever totally replace printed books. There will always be those that prefer printed books, and as long as a viable demand is there, the market will still be there, even if it becomes only a fraction of what it once was.

 

[Sean Aaron]

I have no real feeling about the demise of text-based books. If there's a novel I'm interested in reading the ability to simply download it in seconds on my phone for a fiver is worth far more to me than any tactile experience of holding a paperback. I'm also eagerly awaiting the day when university publications become common online which should make them more affordable and easier to obtain.

Having said that I cannot see so-called "coffee table" books or graphic novels ever being replaced by tablets just because the tablet format is so limited for displaying large images or a variety of formats (see Chris Ware or the lovely oversized French albums).

I do think the book chains are doing themselves in because of their limited selection. The reason a site like Amazon could kill them all was the sheer variety of what was available. I got tired of going into a shop to find that the section I was interested in had a bare, representational selection and the ability to special order whatever their distributor might have. Independents can have a future in a community where people actually read books. Readership is more of an issue than what format books come in.

 

[Starkers]

^Well what also hurts the big chains are places like Tesco, Asda etc who really undercut them on the better sellers, but who only stock a miniscule amount of books.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I wrote about this recently in another thread about buying e-readers, but I'll repeat it here. I just got an e-reader earlier this year and I thought that I would always prefer the paper books to the electronic ones, but I've found that to not be the case. Yes, there are nuances to reading a real book that you become nostalgic for, such as the smell and the feel. But there are now things about reading an e-book that I have come to associate with that warm and happy feeling of reading. Obviously not the smell and feel of paper, but other things.

Such as, it is easier for me to read in bed because I lay on my side, and it was difficult to hold a book open with one hand (hey, I have small hands) and constantly have to reorient the book to read it. Now with the e-reader I can lay in any position and read the book with no hands at all if I'd like, and at any angle. This has made reading in bed a cozy, very positive experience for me that I look forward to all day.

You also become attached to the menus, the buttons, the smooth surface of the e-reader in your hands. Those positive feelings you associated with the paper now also become associated with the device. That doesn't mean I like real books any less, I still read them regularly, I just get that warm and fuzzy feeling for my e-books as well.

Also, I used to go to physical bookstores just to browse when I was in high school, but stopped doing that in college because I just didn't have the time, and now there aren't any bookstores in my neighborhood so I never go, it's just too much of a hassle to drive far away to look at over-priced books I probably can't afford to buy. But with my e-reader, I have gotten back into book browsing big time, albeit from home and over a wireless internet connection. I could spend hours browsing the Kindle store. And the best feature is being able to sample books (you get the first one or two chapters usually), so I have tons of samples from a variety of genres on my e-reader that I look forward to exploring when I have the time.

I would say I definitely read more now that I have an e-reader. Not because I disliked real books, but because it's just so much easier with e-books, and those same positive and nostalgic feelings are still there, just transfered to a different medium.

But I don't think real books will ever die, just like online music hasn't killed CDs and records. Each format has its own place and purpose, its own benefits and detractions.

 

[Sean Aaron]

I thought that I would always prefer the paper books to the electronic ones, but I've found that to not be the case.
...
I would say I definitely read more now that I have an e-reader. Not because I disliked real books, but because it's just so much easier with e-books, and those same positive and nostalgic feelings are still there, just transfered to a different medium.

These two things jumped out at me. The convenience and immediacy of it surprised me (and the practicality of reading a novel on my iPhone 4) and it has meant reading more than I would have if I was only able to read printed books.

 

[cultcross]

Paper books aren't going to die overnight, I think there is just too much love of physical information over digital, and e-books are still in their infancy, really. The main reason (at least in this country) Borders has closed and Waterstones is in trouble isn't that people aren't buying books, it's that they're buying them online. Big chain book retailers could offer little that online retailers couldn't offer and exceed. That trend was well established long before e-readers.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Print-on-demand services will keep paper books alive indefinitely, but the standalone chain bookstore is probably finished. I think the only real route to success for today's bookstores is to make them into gathering places with snacks, coffee, and entertainment, that just happen to also sell books.

I think virtually all casual reading will be done on electronic devices within the next few years, too. Paper books will stick around for collectors, nostalgics, and as marketing tools (think book signings.)

 

[RandyS]

I have no great desire to ever by an e-reader, I love books, I like browsing them buying them and carting them around with me

I have no great hatred for e-readers, so long as they don't erradicate the notion of the book itself

My feelings exactly. The only way I'd ever switch to an e reader is if I have no other option.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Judging from what I've heard, they even encourage some people to read more.

That's definitely been the case for me. Can't really explain why, I guess it's just the convenience factor of having that portable e-reader instead of carrying around a bunch of books. I read on my lunch hour, I read when I'm at the gym on the treadmill (using my kindle app on my Iphone). It's just handy and I'm enjoying reading once again.