http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123980920727621353.html
Author Steven Johnson outlines a future with more books, more distractions -- and the end of reading alone
With Amazon.com's introduction of the Kindle, the history of books is taking a major, noteworthy turn. This is a really great and interesting article that I think you should read. The writer discusses some of the pros and cons of having devices like the Kindle.
With all the technology at our fingertips it is easy for a person to do reasearch for a paper without ever going to a library or even touching a physical book. Between online journals, newspapers, magazines, etc there has been a short instance of neglect of books. However, now with this Kindle books being accessible through this technology are once again available throught a few searches and clicks. It is really changing this the history of the book itself. You no longer will have to scan library shelves and collect all the books on a certain topic, page through those books to see if they even have noteworthy information, etc.
Not only this, but the article mentions how it may increase the impulse buy and how this can be a great tool to increase book sales. Knowing you are in the mood for a certain book, or hearing someone you know mention a good book they just read, now all you have to do is search the name and buy and you have it right there. "It is like the bookstore follows you wherever you go." Furthermore, now it will be even easier for people to publicly talks about books. The author of this article mentions it can turn into a never ending, large Google book-club. And it is true, now you can just blog about what you are raeding at that very moment and discuss what you like and dislike with others.
I mean, personally I do not know if I would be a fan of this. I like to actually flip through pages and, if doing research, have the ability to highlight important points, etc. Another con that the article mentioned was the notion of reading a book and being immersed in another world almost and how that may diminish with the likes of a product such as the Kindle. He did not go into to much detail here, but it is interesting to think about. Also, now you can "put down" a book one second and "pick up" another book the next second. It is almost as if you are carrying your personal library around with you. So it is easier to bounce between books and not so much be involved with one particular book, which is where I think he was trying to maybe go with that point.
Overall, it is definitely an interesting turn in history for the book and am curious to see how much this is picked up by people. Like I said I don't know if I would like it, but I could see how many people would. Do you think this really is going to hae a huge impact in the future for the book industry or what do you think will come of this?
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This is the first I've heard of the Kindle. This post made me want to learn more about it, so I looked it up on the web. I understand how some people might not like this, because some are never going to want to give up their paper. On the other hand, some may prefer this to the physical books because of the ease of carrying around multiple books in this one devise or the convenience that comes along with the words being put into digital form. Personally, I think I would like this, if not for any other reason than for the simple reason of saving paper. I hate carrying around a lot of books or paper if I don't have to, and I really hate the idea of wasting paper. There have been many times when I've bought a book for some reason or another and didn't know what to do with it when I was done if I knew I was never going to read it again. With the Kindle, that wouldn't be a concern.
ReplyDeleteThis article is similar to Morgan's article on printed media vs. Internet or TV news. I really think what it all boils down to is individual preferences. It depends on how you use books and what you do with them. No matter what devises or new technologies they come up with, I think books will continue to hold their place in our world for a while, but the trend of more and more people moving towards digital media forms will continue until eventually printed materials become a rarity. Even though physical book sales may be declining with technological advancements, the book industry itself has nothing but to gain from this because more people are likely to purchase books with the added convenience and cost savings that come from the Kindle (the ad I saw said books on Kindle are sold at a fraction of the price of printed versions). Either way, I think the book industry's concern shouldn't be how people are reading, but rather what they're reading. As long as there are books that appeal to readers, they will find a way to read them.