A Bookless Future seems unlikely

[primsong]

I noticed a news article about a 'library' in New York that was entirely bookless - they just had displays of e-books and allowed checkout of readers loaded with five books apiece.  They were touting it as The Future, naturally.  Like The Future is always supposed to be a *good* thing, and we should all accept it will inevitably come.  Implication being that if we don't accept The Future we are backwards, knuckle-dragging 8-track listeners who still think digital watches are a pretty cool thing.

As for me, I see a phrase like "bookless library" and my entire inner being goes "Nope nope nope nope nope nope. Nuh-uh. Not gonna happen."

Too many strikes against the e-readers - like not being able to read with half of one eye open and the rest of your face buried in a pillow.  And your brain processes the information on a lit screen differently than when it is on a printed page.  Buying them for .25 at a garage sale. Reading an obscure story from the early 1900s that can't be found any other way. And then there's batteries (or lack thereof).  And the scent and feel of books.  And. And. And.

*hugs (paper) book*  Nope nope nope.

Comments

[justice_turtle]

I don't think e-readers are ever going to replace paper books. It's not the same as CDs versus cassette tapes or whatever the other supposed parallels are, because the advantages and disadvantages are so different -- you mustn't drop an e-reader in the bath, for instance.

Me, I prefer e-readers because they're not bulky, they lie flat, have a built-in dictionary to look up new words (I've been reading a lot of paper books lately and I keep trying to click on words in them... ;P), and you can change the text size... but it is way harder to skim them because so little text shows at a time, the book selection is limited, and there are only two price points: "free, thank you Project Gutenberg" and "ouch ouch ouch". I'll never be able to find a used e-Silmarillion at the thrift store for 25 cents like I did my paper copy. Also, batteries. :P

(I mean, I get that you and a lot of other people have a connection to "the scent and feel of books" that I don't have. Which is another reason I don't think physical books will ever disappear or even become a lower-class-only option -- people like holding a physical embodiment of a good story. Flexible screens may eventually start to replace paper, but it'll be a long time.)

One thing I'm not really following, though: "not being able to read with half of one eye open and the rest of your face buried in a pillow." How do you mean? I like my e-reader because it's easier to do that -- I don't have to have my arm up holding the spine of the book and keeping the pages from flopping in front of my nose. Is there some physical mistranslation going on here?

[primsong]

The ones I've encountered required the person to keep it at a particular angle to be able to really see the text, which wasn't conducive to weird angles in bed where I'm sometimes reading sideways across a plane. ;-) Also if I fall asleep and drool on it, at least I won't fry anything, hah!

[kerravonsen]

I haven't noticed a problem with the angle I've used my e-reader, no. As I said below, I am amazed at how sharp and clear E-ink is.

And since I've never fallen asleep and drooled on a physical book, I doubt very much that I would fall asleep and drool on an e-reader either! 8-P