The book is dead. Long live the book.
- From: Scott Lawton <scott_bulkmail@[redacted]>
- Subject: The book is dead. Long live the book.
- Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 08:13:00 EDT
Jeff Jarvis has an interesting post on his BuzzMachine blog:
http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/05/19/the-book-is-dead-long-live-the-book/
The problems with books are many: They are frozen in time without the means
of being updated and corrected. They have no link to related knowledge,
debates, and sources. They create, at best, a one-way relationship with a
reader. They try to teach readers but don't teach authors. .... They are
expensive to produce. They depend on scarce shelf space. They depend on
blockbuster economics. They can't afford to serve the real mass of niches.
They are subject to gatekeepers' whims. They aren't searchable. They
aren't linkable. They have no metadata. They carry no conversation. They
are thrown out when there's no space for them anymore. Print is where
words go to die.
___
That's just an excerpt; the entire post and comments are worthwhile.
Scott