Do you think books will survive?
 

In actual paper form that is. Or will they be replaced by those stupid piece of crap electronic readers that you see the occasional prick using on the Underground?


EDIT - I MEANT TO PUT 'NO' IN THE POLL. I'm an idiot.

EDIT - BEWARE, THE THREAD TITLE AND POLL QUESTION ARE DIFFERENT.

I really think the book is one of those unwittingly perfect formats, a bit like the album or the feature film or the magazine, that will endure (as the album and feature film and magazine have) long after technology has rendered them archaic.

Yes.

Yes. The majority of pricks who read on that ipad stuff are far more likely not to be avid readers anyway, and I can't see traditional readers ever disappearing. Plus the technology to replace books has been here for years now, but it never seems to replace the practicality and appeal that book have. Also, it's not like the majority of the population need to carry 10 or more books with them when they commute from one place to another.

I just realise I put yes in the poll when I meant no. Stupid me.

I do think books will survive.

lurker-- i see you're interested in scifi. question #4 could be a nice premise for a short story, but beware of similarities to farenheit 451. in a way, that guy made it impossible for everybody else to talk about books, with that story. i mean whatshisname-- the writer, not truffaut.

I don't read/watch much sci fi but I am interested in the future (same thing?) and how things will develop, technology etc. I haven't read Fahrenheit 451, I'll seek it out...some day...when I get round to it. But yeah thanks, maybe I'll write that story!

Oh, shit. I meant to say "Yes, they will survive."

There's something romantic about reading books. Flipping page, after page, after page...

Sorry. You're another victim of my stupidity.

Yeah, definitely romantic. It's a personal thing, you can write your name, date in it. If it's a present you can write a message.

It's cool. I've been victim to my own for quite some time now. Sometimes it's nice to change things up.

strike while the iron is hot

no, how else can I read my baby to sleep? kindle? ipad? get fucked.

that said, paper books are already expensive. I try to buy used.

i love books. screens make my eyes hurt.

i love book stores too. going inside and reading for hours.

YOU CAN'T DO THAT WITH KINDLE.

fuck kindle.

Anyone else find it really sinister when he says this?

everyone. but don't tell him.

I wonder how many babies he's "read to sleep":(.

Thousands

:eek: :eek: :eek:

is he a bishop???

it would take an entire chapter of Stephen Hawking to knock her out.

with William Gibson it's...3 pages....tops.

I drew a picture of her sleeping, with my left hand. does that count?

Good point, well made.

I'm skeptical of the idea that technology is going to make everything obsolete forever. It has been a long time now that e-books have been around.

There's been no revolution. You may put aside your facebook statuses and blog page rants.

The only thing against that point, is the role space will play in people's lives. As people's living spaces shrink, books become a kind of space-luxury they can't afford. For that reason alone, I think people will be forced to move further towards digitised books. Having a few regular coffee table style books on the shelves, while all their serious stuff is on file.

But why will people's living spaces shrink? We have unimaginable urban sprawl. If we actually made use of that space, we'd have more living area than at any time in history.

Increasing population. Most apartments in places like China and Korea are remarkably smaller than here in the US or UK.

If it were such the case, I would expect digital books to mostly be an urban phenomenon and class-dependent.

Couple of weeks ago I finished a couple of eBooks and started on another but quit and now I'm buying the book. Don't like the idea of light emanating in my face all the time while reading off the screen; gives me headaches especially since my job requires me to be in front of a screen for 6 hours a day as it is.

Yes, I do think books will survive, but think newspapers will slowly get closer to extinction

I don't think newspapers will disappear.

I think they will thin out and become more authoritative.

I'd rather have one newspaper that gives the most objective, to the best degree possible, shit instead of a number of politically-leaning papers. The internet is perfect for opinion so there shall it reside.

I voted no - but with the caveat that paper in the future might be very different from what we experience now...

i voted yes but i meant to say no. oops.

i don't wanna live in a world without proper books y'all. none of this ipad/kindle biz-nass please.

There's no way eBooks will kill books, because they're just not as convenient. It's not really the same thing as with CDs/LPs/MP3/etc ; MP3s keep on growing because they're more convenient than a CD or a LP (to transport them, for instance) - obviously I'm not talking about feeling there -, LaserDisc disappeared because they were ridiculouslyhuge, etc



eBooks are not as convenient as books, at least that's what I feel. That said, there may be a day where the deforestation situation grows so bad that there is no way to print books anymore, or ar least not as many, and not as cheap as nowadays. Just my imagination of course, but who knows.

Are you sharing our moments with syg?

Anyway... I think maybe yes. Not this generation, maybe one or two more. And not completely, they'll be a nerd hobby, taken up by the wealthy or avant garde.

not all of it is Liveable, at least efficiently.. And too many people already take up too much ag land. People need to condense and not farm livestock if they wish there to be enough land left to feed us. That is 100% truth.

he lives in a glass house, like some french surrealist wanted-- i forget his name

no, those things are stupid and could never replace a book. they are a true fashion and will go away very soon..

waiting on wifi downloads for new books? what about charging that shit/batteries? books are universally convenient and affordable..

will the huge and failing book industry survive? of course not, they print millions of copies of rubbish that sit unsold year after year.. but will the medium of print be replaced by technology? of course not, this is a no brainer..

I say we go back to papyrus scrolls.

books are so arrogant. Back in my day, knowledge was passed on around campfires to the tempo of slowly strummed guitars.