Below is a series of questions posed by Anne Rice on her Facebook page this past Monday (October 18th). I’m reposting them because she asks about the future of the book as a physical object, which prompted me to think how I would redesign the book. You don’t have to have a Facebook account to see her fan page, so I’ll leave it up to you to find out what her fans had to say in response to these questions. You can also visit her official website for her Facebook and Twitter feeds.
[Monday, October 18, 2010 @ 1:29 pm]
Nancy Bento supplied us with this link to a story about the possible disappearance of the physical book. I don't think the physical book WILL disappear, frankly, but what are your thoughts?
Link: Will physical books be gone in five years?
As e-book readers and tablet computers become more common, one prominent tech mogul says that physical books could disappear sooner than expected.
[Monday, October 18, 2010 @ 1:31 pm]
You've probably heard me float this idea before: the physical book can be saved by a new kind of physical book: a synthetic book that weighs less, lasts longer, and costs infinitely less to produce. Why aren't we seeing innovations in the physical book?
[Monday, October 18, 2010 @ 1:39 pm]
Why do books have to look like they did in the 1500's? Why are they still made of paper? Imagine a beautiful synthetic book, feather weight, with bright white pages, impervious to mildew, water, or rot. Why not? Why is there no investment in this area?
[Monday, October 18, 2010 @ 1:41 pm]
A new synthetic book could preserve the age old fonts, the glory of full color illustrations, the beautiful feel of the volume in hand, yet be cheap to produce, cheap to ship, and easy to store. To save the book, we need to remake the book. We have reinvented clothing with synthetics. Why not books?
[Monday, October 18, 2010 @ 1:57 pm]
Kindle and ebooks are fine for those who are connected, and possess technology. But a new featherweight synthetic physical book could go with one to the most remote villages or mountain peaks or desert islands of the world. It could endure in a tropical rain forest. Shipping and storage of such books could revolutionize the "book industry."
On the one hand, I love books. I love to hold them in my hand, see the ink smear and turn my fingers black. I love the way books smell. I love the act of writing my name on the first page, marking it as my property. I love to write in my book, underlining sections or writing myself little notes in the margins. I love the heaviness of hardcover books, their heft, the way the spines don’t break as easily as paperbacks. I also love paperbacks because they fit in my little hands more easily, even if repeated readings sometimes break the spines. And trust me, I heavily re-read. I love that I can physically exchange my books with family and friends, sharing and spreading the enjoyment I felt while reading a particular book.
On the other hand, I own a Kindle. My parents gave it to me for a birthday present in 2009 (the benefits of having a father who is a techno-geek!). I love that I can store thousands of books in one lightweight, easily portable device. This comes in handy because I tear through books very quickly, and usually end up lugging about half a dozen books with me on vacation. With my Kindle, I just have the one device and I’m all set. And while not everything is available as a Kindle book, there is still a huge selection and PDF files are eligible for conversion to a Kindle file. And while I don’t take advantage of the options, magazines and newspapers are also available on the Kindle.
But, there are drawbacks. The screen is in black and white, which leaves any art and/or photography books out of the picture, especially those big coffee table books. Many of the manga series I read are unavailable as a Kindle file. You can’t share Kindle books with your family and friends unless you physically trade Kindles, which ruins the tradition my father and I have practiced since I was in elementary school. The prices are set by publishers (which is fair, don’t get me wrong), and often times the price of the electronic Kindle file is the same as a paperback book – so where’s the advantage? And while there is a QWERTY keyboard on the Kindle along with the option of leaving yourself notes in the book, I can still handwrite faster than I can type. By the way, does that last fact mark me as a figurative dinosaur, since younger generations can type faster than they can handwrite? This last drawback, the clunkiness of note-taking, is the biggest reason why all the books I’ve purchased for my Kindle so far have been pleasure books. I would never ever buy a textbook or book for graduate class for use on my Kindle while the technology remains as is.
So, this got me to thinking - what would have to change in order for me to buy electronic versions of scholarly books/textbooks? What I envision is a tablet style computer that has a touch screen, but also a stylus. When you open the book file, you can write on the screen, in your own handwriting, and it will save your notes either as a footnote or place them in the margin, almost like track changes in Word. The notes would have the option of visible or invisible, and would be compressed until you click on them. You would also be able to underline or highlight the text of the book. There should be the option to delete or alter the notes as needed. And of course, there should be an option to print the file, with or without the handwritten notes. And in an ideal and perfect world, you would be able to share these books like we can with physical books. After all, if I pay money for an electronic book, is it not mine to do with what I want, the same as a paperback or hardcover book? I think the restriction on sharing electronic books is the biggest hurdle faced by the publishing industry. If these options were available, I would consider switching to electronic versions of scholarly books and textbooks.
So what does your vision of the book and its future look like?
[Edited on 22 October 2010 to add this link: "Wal-Mart to Add Nook to Inventory of E-Readers" (From New York Times)]
Works Cited:
Rice, Anne. Anne Rice Fanpage. Facebook, 18 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://www.facebook.com/annericefanpage>.
I'm going to come at this from a couple of angles. First, I'm a former lit major so I will always love books. I love the way they feel, I love buying new books, I love the smell of my old books (sniffing my copy of "Still Life with Woodpecker" from 1980 brings me right back to Cortland, NY). On the other hand, I love my Kindle. It's so cool to be able to carry 24 books with me in my purse and I love how my Kindle and my iPhone Kindle app sync up so I always have a book with me. Each device knows where I left off on any of the books I am reading at the time.
ReplyDeleteFrom a teacher's standpoint, I have fought hard for my students to keep their physical textbooks. Full Sail is encouraging us to use eBooks for our courses, but I'm going kicking and screaming...until four weeks ago when on a Wednesday I found out my students starting that next Monday would not have a book because "Advertising Concept and Copy" was out of stock. Most of my course is written around that book. Students would not be able to do any course work without the book. Norton and Norton did not have an eBook available. In a panic, I found where the textbook author (George Felton) worked and emailed him the story. Full Sail operates on a four-week semester, so waiting for the re-print of the book was not an option for my October or my upcoming November students. Mr. Felton took care of it. By Wednesday evening, I had an email from Norton's marketing department that included a link to an online version of the book they created just for me. As much as I love to sniff my physical books, I will always be grateful for technology and eBooks.
Note: one student did complain because the eBook was in Flash and he couldn't read it on his iPad. He had to "slump over his Macbook Pro" to do his reading. I told him the story of what happened with the book and that he was lucky to have any book at all then I reminded him that some people don't have a sandwich and to be grateful for what is provided to him.
Note 2: in regards to the black and white screen of the Kindle, my boss said the iPad is in color and he can view pictures. I reminded him that the books I read don't come with pictures :)
There is still so much room for improvement for eBooks, but I definitely agree they deserve a place in the classroom. One of the biggest hurdles, I think, is still the accessibility and cost of the eBook readers. I know the new version of the Kindle is $189 for 3G + Wi-Fi and $139 for just the Wi-Fi, but not everyone can afford that price. The Nook is $149 for Wi-Fi and $199 for 3G + Wi-Fi. Eventually, I think these prices will come down, and the technology will improve, but how far off is this future? And why on earth would Apple make the iPad not Flash compatible? By the way, I covet the iPad – I think it’s shiny, pretty, and kinda sexy, but until the price comes down and improvements are made, I’m not buying.
ReplyDeleteDr. Logan uses GoogleBooks frequently in her undergrad courses, saving students money because it's free and accessible to *anyone* (unlike our scholarly databases, which require a subscription or enrollment at a university). I am also taking advantage of GoogleBooks for this project, as you can see by the static page I've created. GoogleBooks allows me to either link to the book, or embed it in my site, which then allows my readers to actually know what I'm referring to - it's great. And of course, now that most academic journals publish online, we can download articles for free (while we’re still students and have access), thus increasing our academic sphere of knowledge.
And I think it is fabulous how Mr. George Felton came to your rescue, how kind and generous! It’s nice to know that some people are still willing to bend over backwards and help their fellow academics. :)
I know plenty of avid readers who love e-books, but I can't imagine not having a collection of books on my shelf.
ReplyDeleteI refuse to get rid of my childhood books; I'm saving them for my future children. They're sitting in boxes in my family's storage unit. How could I be so cruel as to deny my unborn children access to the Sweet Valley High books, the Saddle Club books, the Little House on the Prairie books, R.L. Stine, Christoper Pike, etc. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd it would break my heart to get rid of all my books. Not to mention how expensive it would be to replace them all as e-Books. And that's another problem with e-Books - unlike physical books, you can't buy them used or donate them.