All technologies follow a path into obsolescence. The question is not *if*, but *when* the paper book will reach this point. Books do still have some advantages, but those are likely to be short lived.
Major issues with paper books: - weight. when I move, half the weight of my possessions is books. it also keeps me from travelling with information I need. - static. I can't search paper books. it is often very frustrating to not be able to find information. I can't search a library card catalog and be certain a book has what I want in it. - inefficient libraries. libraries have to deal with space for large numbers of books, and having to physically go pick a book up (and find it) and track it's loaning out, etc. - durability. I went to see the dead sea scrolls recently. much of their content has been forever lost due to them falling apart. digital formats at least have the potential of being upgraded/converted. - backups. when I lose a book it's gone. - updates/errata. impossible to rapidly update a paper book. - distribution speed. if blogs had to wait a day to be delivered they wouldn't be all that useful. the inefficiency of book rental/purchase/print isn't going to work in a society that is speeding up. -Jeff On Nov 19, 2007 12:24 PM, Jorge Arango <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 11:49:54, pauric <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > If it aint super broke, why charge $400 to fix it? > > There are some situations in which books are super broken. Moving > information around in heavy blocks of mashed wood pulp is ineffective. > With the rising social, economic, and environmental costs of fossil > fuels, it is also morally dubious. > > An example: in the developing world, access to quality libraries is > rare -- the availability of books is limited by their impractical > physical form. Like cellphones, which have improved people's lives in > the developing world by bringing telecoms where copper wouldn't reach, > ebooks have the potential of helping folks in less developed parts of > the world get access to resources we take for granted. > > Cheers, > > -- Jorge > ________________________________________________________________ > *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* > February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA > Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- Thanks, Jeff ________________________________________________________________________________ Jeff Axup, Ph.D. Principal Consultant, Mobile Community Design Consulting, San Diego Research: Mobile Group Research Methods, Social Networks, Group Usability E-mail: axup <at> userdesign.com Blog: http://mobilecommunitydesign.com Moblog: http://memeaddict.blogspot.com "Designers mine the raw bits of tomorrow. They shape them for the present day." - Bruce Sterling ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
