Bob W wrote:
The printed book will long survive as an aesthetic object. Electronic
books will replace it the way the horse replaced the automobile, for
day-to-day, practical, utilitarian purposes. Reading a novel,
getting a
recipe, etc.
The mistake you're making, Mark, is thinking that reading a novel, or even a
recipe book, is a utilitarian activity like getting from A to B. It isn't.
Reading a classic book is like looking at a Rembrandt painting. There is a
world of difference between looking at an original oil painting and looking
at a reproduction, and it encompasses not just the act of looking, but also
everything that goes around it, such as the gallery, the place, the people,
the other pictures in that place, and many other factors. Reading a printed
book is a similar experience and goes beyond the words themselves to
encompass the book itself, your surroundings and so on. It's a long way from
being utilitarian. If you (and more importantly the producers of e-readers)
don't understand that then these devices are doomed to fail.
Difference of opinion, suppose. I find what you wrote above an insult to
every author who ever wrote. I read for the words and ideas of the
writer and I'm quite confident that's why authors want to be read.
Of course *my* point of view might be an insult to the printers and
bookbinders of the world!
I still go with the writers, though...
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