The Value of the Printed Page?
In the race for acceptance it now seems that both printed and digital materials are neck and neck.
On "Book Dirt" readers were asked for their opinion... give good reasons that the printed book will survive.
Since I don't have an insistance that a "book" need even be recorded in writing and that the full contents of the body of knowledge we now associate with book learning is often carried for years in writer's minds, or in the case of the past, in oral tradtion, the question posed is of fundamental interest to the survival of humanity.
But, not to be a spoilsport, here is my answer to the question: You have probably come across the game a few years ago where people used just leave books they had finished reading in public places for others to find.
It's easier to lose a book, as I know from experience, than an expensive machine, as one is likely to take more care.
You asked for the edge printed books have over digital. In the case of photography books, pages can be removed and the images framed... though with the arrival of digital cameras such mutilation is now, fortunately, not necessary.
On "Book Dirt" readers were asked for their opinion... give good reasons that the printed book will survive.
Since I don't have an insistance that a "book" need even be recorded in writing and that the full contents of the body of knowledge we now associate with book learning is often carried for years in writer's minds, or in the case of the past, in oral tradtion, the question posed is of fundamental interest to the survival of humanity.
But, not to be a spoilsport, here is my answer to the question: You have probably come across the game a few years ago where people used just leave books they had finished reading in public places for others to find.
It's easier to lose a book, as I know from experience, than an expensive machine, as one is likely to take more care.
You asked for the edge printed books have over digital. In the case of photography books, pages can be removed and the images framed... though with the arrival of digital cameras such mutilation is now, fortunately, not necessary.
Labels: Books, digital, publishing
posted by Tales from the Birch Wood. at
10:52
2 Comments:
Some interesting observations. I'll be doing a follow-up piece later. Thanks for reading Book Dirt!
And thank you for taking time to post a comment.
I was really delighted to find your blog and think that, because paper is such an essential commodity in our world, books will continue to appear in print.
Given the pecking order within publishing, however, it will be interesting to see which writers will be the privileged ones to have hardbacks to their names.
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