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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: April 23, 2003 A brave new world for books -- "You will step up to one of these machines and you will browse the index. You might be looking for a classic that has been out of print of years, perhaps, or the latest bestseller, or you might be looking for a book on quiltmaking. You will browse the index, and you will make your choice. You will choose the typeface, the size of the type, the binding, the cover. You will choose whether you want to listen to it or to read it. Then you will pay your money and you will punch your buttons. In a short time, out from the machine will come your book." (Comments: In my experience, kiosks aren't economically viable, and the usability is often terrible. An exceptions would be photo booths.Thanks MadMan.)
Reader Comments...
Once handhelds have better-than-print resolution at an affordable price, books for leisure reading are doomed. I give books twenty years from that date. Generations are forming today that prefer online information. Pulp huggers will grow old and die. New generations of e-youth are replacing them. What's that you say? You prefer the "feel" of paper? Such attachments are easily lost in the cultural reformation. Posted by: Grease Junky on April 24, 2003 02:05 AM
Log into Amazon, and have my typographical preferences stored together with my other user preferences. Great! Everything i order will be optimized for my eyes. Posted by: Friday on April 24, 2003 05:24 AM
Despite what Grease Junky might say, books will not be killed off by any new technology. Radio was supposed to kill newspapers and books, cinema was supposed to kill radio, TV was supposed to kill cinema, the internet was supposed to kill TV etc etc. But I can't think of a single communications medium which has been driven to extinction by a new technology. I'll abandon books when I can be sure the handheld isn't going to crash or run out of power just when I'm getting to the good bits, and when I'm sure Mr Gates et al don't see it as another way of over-charging for something I can already get much cheaper. Posted by: Alan on April 25, 2003 11:27 AM
"But I can't think of a single communications medium which has been driven to extinction by a new technology." If an alphabet is a comunications medium, then alphabets have replaced alphabets. For example, the Aramaean alphabet gradually replaced cuneiform. Similarly, one might argue that certain computer languages are replacing other computer languages. Posted by: John S. Rhodes on April 25, 2003 04:16 PM
Ahhh, the arrogance of the ages. By Alan's logic one can also deduce that because no war has ever led to the extinction of our species, it will never happen. I didn't say books will disappear. I said books for entertainment will go electronic. You fail to see the day when handheld computers with better-than-print resolution are easily affordable to a majority of a population that has not been raised with any affection for printed books. Many, if not most, of today's kids already prefer the Internet to books. An appropriate quote would be, "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" -HM Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927. Books will be changing, like it or not. Posted by: Grease Junky on April 26, 2003 02:46 PM
What makes a book a book, and a web site a web site? Once the gap between resolution, readability, convenience, and price are bridged, there won’t be a difference! The only question is when, and if, those hurdles are ever overcome. (Sorry for the mixed metaphors) As for the kiosk, yeah right, the book giants will never let that happen. It’s the US version of capitalism at work.
I do think ebooks like talking movies will have to come into their own. Once the strength is realized, new techniques to take advantage of the strength, then the new medium takes off. The problem comes in when trying to force fit the new technology too much in the ways of the old. This seems logical for fast or smooth adoption, but probably only holds back the new technology. There has to be a big advantage that breaks with the past, and it is this that developers seem not to fully grasp. Posted by: (the other)JS on April 26, 2003 11:17 PM
very progressive... i envision similar things for the music industry Posted by: keith knutsson on April 27, 2003 07:49 PM
Grease Monkey - you said "I give books twenty years from that date", which I took to mean that you thought they would disappear. Sorry if I misunderstood. What I was trying to say was that forms of communication don't eliminate their predecessors, they simply give us more ways of communicating, which humans love to do. Posted by: Alan on April 28, 2003 09:20 AM
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