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There's one thing that scares me about the coming death of the physical books. When I was a kid there were a lot of books at home. Frequently, some book would c
by galactus 16y ago
There's one thing that scares me about the coming death of the physical books. When I was a kid there were a lot of books at home. Frequently, some book would catch my attention and I would read it (or try to read it, sometimes I was too young to understand some of them). It was not that I was always actively looking for something to read, it was just that books, being physical and visible all the time, were basically impossible to ignore. The fact that they looked different was important, in my opinion, to make me want to look at them more closely.
I don't see how that experience can be replicated today with electronic books, for my kids. I have bought a lot of books for the kindle since I got one, and it kinds of ticks me that Im actually depriving my kids of the real bookshelf experience I enjoyed so much, by not buying the physical version.
(sorry for the poor english)
- pasbesoin 16y agoI read many titles that a demographic "channel" might well never have presented to me. And a book, once made, can take on a life of its own. Traveling to distant places, held in many hands. DRM-ed ebooks are like a tethered bird. I fear for the freedom of the thoughts they contain.
- alextp 16y agoI wish I could pay extra when buying a paperback and get the electronic edition "on loan" until the paperback arrives. This would be the best of both worlds, for me.
- morgantwenty 16y agosod on "loan" I would like the option to have both thanks, I don't mind paying a £1 or so more than the physical copy is on its own but at the moment if I want both I have to buy both the physical and the digital copy. Like the BluRay+DVD packs that are available.
- michaelbuckbee 16y agoI share this exact concern as most of my favorite books as a kid were the ones I discovered on my dad's bookshelf: LOTR, Ray Bradbury, Issac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and lots of other science fiction. My plan for my daughter is to give her an iPod touch (or maybe her own Kindle - they're getting so cheap) when she's old enough. I'll set it up with our family amazon account and she'll have access to all of the books I've already purchased.
- revorad 16y agoI think we are going to have many new fascinating physical objects to catch our attention in the future. Just because many objects of the past (books) have been shrunk to fit in one little object does not mean we will not create entirely new ones. We haven't done it yet because we didn't have the space. Now that the bookshelf is empty, it will be filled with many new wonderful things. People are creative. And people like stuff.