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

[linaewen]

I've been doing some reading on a hand-me down tablet from my hubby. It's got merit, but among other things, I find myself very frustrated by how awkward it is to look ahead to read the end of the "book." I love peeking at the end first and then going back to read how it arrives there, and it's so much more satisfying and easy to do with a real book in your hands! Definitely don't want a future that has no real books in it.

[primsong]

Yes! I like how I can riffle back and forth through a real book and sort of hone in on it like a butterfly scenting a flower rather than having to be so precise.

[kerravonsen]

I find myself very frustrated by how awkward it is to look ahead to read the end of the "book."

Hmmmm. I think that depends on the software of the particular e-reader. Good ones have a slider-bar with your current position, which means you can jump to any place in the book you like, including the end.

What can be disconcerting with reading an e-book, though, is that one doesn't have the subconcious indicator of the thickness of the book to enable you to feel, without thinking, how far along in the book you are, and how much further there is to go before the end.