> > Everything Bob Walkden said about the pleasures of books is and will > continue to be true. It's also beside the point: It won't stop the > advancement of electronic books any more than the pleasures of film > stopped digital cameras. >
It's a false analogy. People have a very different relationship with books to what they had with film. The 2 things that will keep books alive are their tactile quality, the sentiment we attach to them as individuals, and bookshops. The 3 things that will keep books alive are ..., and libraries. Bookshops have survived the onslaught of Amazon because book people love bookshops. All Amazon has done it given us a way to buy more books. I now probably buy more books from bricks and mortar than I ever did before, even though I also buy truckloads of them from Amazon. I can't walk past a bookshop without going in, and the fact that they are crowded and there are long lines at the tills tell me that other people are the same. Wandering along a row of shelving flicking through likely-looking books among like-minded people, then sitting in a cafe curled up with your latest purchase is a much more enjoyable experience than sitting in front of a screen on your own downloading a file. There is a whole range of experience with books that an awful lot of people enjoy that you simply don't get with digital versions. It's not just new books either. Used bookshops, booksellers along the Thames, the Seine, the Rhone; Charing Cross Road - all these things are part of the culture associated with books, learning and reading, which people love. There was nothing remotely like this, or an a similar scale, with film, which for most people was nothing more than a utilitarian necessity. Bob -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
