Book People Archive

Re: MP3's vs eBooks

In a message dated 03/21/2001 1:59:12 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
tonykline@[redacted] writes:

> In what I have already done with high density internal hyperlinks in
> Ovid's Metamorphoses and Dante's Divine Comedy, I can see that it would
> be a simple process to create external hyperlinks....integration with
> discussion groups etc is clearly some way off....it would be demanding
> of time and energy, but a rich 'bundle' so created would be exciting in
> its potential width and depth. Such projects will require dedication
> and probably teamwork though a surprising amount can be done by those
> who care enough about the subject at hand. Should one start inside out
> or outside in?
> 
> The public domain 'book' is an artefact with five hundred years history
> (of mass distribution in Europe and America). I give it much less than
> a hundred years to go. The new artefact will be the electronic 'bundle'.
> I think that is a truly exciting concept. 
> 
> Regards    
> 
> Tony Kline
> 
> 

Hello, all.  I am finding this discussion interesting, but a little 
one-sided.  Am I one of the few left who see e-text, ebooks, 
e-digital-whatever-silly-name-you-want-to-call-a-written-work, as a useful 
devise, but not an end in itself?  I am a little frightened at what seems the 
joyous abandon being used to discuss the demise of the book on paper.  For 
me, someone who publishes electronic versions of public-domain books to the 
net by the way, I find the idea of being without real books in my life a very 
sad and demoralizing thought.  This is exactly what we should not be pushing. 
 The net is a tool.  Period.  It is a different version of a written work.  
That is all.  

Does the net allow you to explore your ideas and persue different tangents?  
Yes.  Is it a relavent tool for research and information gathering?  Again, 
yes.  Has my life changed since exploring books, authors, and antiques 
on-line? YES!   Would I want to see the demise of the printed book?  Never, 
never, never.  I find it sad for people to think the printed book will be 
gone in a hundred years.  I hope you are very wrong.  And the saddest thing I 
can think of is living in a house where the bookshelves are devoid of books, 
as another person mentioned in their email on this issue.

Think of what we are talking about here.  If we think e-books are the way to 
go, and we phase out printed books, are we not playing into the hands of 
those who wish to control the digital information we receive as a 
pay-per-event?  How do we ensure that those who cannot afford the expense of 
a palm pilot or whatever future devise is out there, can still access the 
same material in a cheaper form, i.e. the printed book?  

And, let's face it, I have a personal issue involved here.  The smell of an 
old book, dusty and musty and warm in the hands, can never compete with the 
cold, impersonal, mechanistic thing of an e-book reader.  The best gift 
anyone can give is a book, perhaps inscribed inside with personal sentiment.  
What would be lost if the only thing we have left is a bunch of electronic 
bits floating in the ether, that has little to do with the joy of reading a 
real book.  I'll keep my collection of books, thanks.  And I'll struggle to 
keep printed works always going.  It's too important to lose that touch of 
our humanity.

What do others think?  I'd like to hear some other views on this issue.
             
Thanks!

Jeff Kelley
www.kellscraft.com