Printed books versus technology

Introduction

The discussions about book reading being a dying art have been so immense in the recent past. The internet is often blamed for causing the death of printed books and reading material. Trends among the young show great change in reading habits and the degeneration of book reading as a habit compared to the pre–digital era. Most of these changes in reading habits are attributed to the existence of the internet and books in digital format. Many people come out in defense of the honor of printed books terming them as irreplaceable but the convenience and portability of the books in digital formats pose a great threat to the truth of that school of thought. Many institutions argue that from an academic perspective nothing yet replaces printed books. In the past and even to date books gave a wide range of information ranging from fictional stories to history to educational content to mention a few. This kind of information is accessible with much more ease and with minimal ranging to no charges in the internet through articles and blogs is only getting better with time leaving us with the question, ‘will books and reading materials in digital format replace printed books?’

On face value, the book publishing industry seems to be going through a period of unforeseen shakeup – perhaps since the inception of writing. People nowadays in large proportions consume electronic books on mobile phones, tablets, and computers they consume more types of content than ever before. Rather than buying books at independent bookstores and national chains people prefer to download them from the internet or read them online. They are finding new and creative techniques to publish and distribute books disrupting the middleman. This has created totally new links between author and reader. However, the future of reading still looks a lot like what it looked like in the past.

This is because even as technological change keeps going up exponentially, readers are only capable of changing in a linear manner. There is a great difference between the rate of change of technology and that of human beings. Reading printed books has become so deeply engraved in us that the thought of entirely getting rid of them brings so much resistance. This may explain why electronic books in online stores were showcased with impressive covers, bookshelves that appeared wooden, and for some the physical sensation of flipping pages was offered with some form of digital animation. Readers bought into the idea that reading an electronic book on their devices should not be fundamentally different from reading a traditional book, making them create their electronic format book readers with digital covers and found creative ways to create digital libraries for their e-books

There are things about printed books that are really difficult to replace making the longevity of printed books inevitable.

Books are physical beautiful

This doesn’t mean that electronic books can’t be beautiful, e-books are still new and designers have yet to fully realize their potential. For paper books however so much has been achieved in this line. The book cover in most printed books acted as a marketing tool. It had to grab your attention for you to notice it and grab it from the shelves.

Web entrepreneur, designer and novelist Jack Cheng, said that printed books offer a more dynamic experience to the reader. In his words, “I feel like with e-books, you often just get a meal on the same white plate as all the other meals, but a nice hardcover is like having a place setting, having dinnerware selected to suit the food. The story is still the main thing you’re there for, but the choices around it — the paper stock, the way the book is typeset, the selection of fonts — they add their own subtle flavors to the experience of that story.”

Printed books are tangible

They have in them the quality of scarcity; each copy seems to be unique to you to some degree. For readers who truly love a given book, an electronic document is not a good enough replacement for owning a hard copy.

Cheng for instance shared his experience of having a physical book as compared to an e book. He says “Personally I’ve gone out and purchased hardcovers of books I first read on my Kindle because I wanted them in a more tangible form. Having a hardcover on my shelf is like having a print by one of my favorite artists on the wall.”

Books are nostalgic

People tend to get familiar with books and form connections with it. These explains why people own personalized copies of books and like to have their books safe and in good shape even after reading them. That kind of a bond is difficult to develop in e-books.

Conclusion

Though the electronic books possess attractive qualities like convenience, selection, portability, multimedia, there are still some fundamental qualities they will simply never possess. Unlike other technological changes such as cassette to disc which is an improvement in quality and experience, e-books don’t offer an improvement to the quality of reading but bring about a different experience altogether. For these reasons then, the future of printed books will be just as it is now despite the technological advancements that threaten to shake it up.

References

Josh, Catone. “Why Books Printed Will Never Die.” Oxford University Press. 2013. http://mashable.com/2013/01/16/e-books-vs-print/Kayla, Bibeau. “Why NYC Subway Riders Still Read Books”. Books versus Technology 17, no.6 (2013): 45-47.