Are Books Becoming Obsolete?

Nancyleeny

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I have Kindle on my iPad, but I don't really like reading on it. I won't buy an instructional ebook ever again! Whether it's a book on jewelry making or a cookbook, looking at it in kindle makes it harder for my brain to process.

I'm not crazy about it for novels - I lose my place and don't have a sense of how far along I am in the work which, for some reason, matters to me when I read. When I travel, however, it's ok, because I don't have to drag books along.
 
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I think books will "never" become obsolete, but "book sales" will always be affected because of technology such as the Kindle.

I think this kind of technology brings about sad times for books. I think it also encourages the younger generations to avoid books, and that could be quite dangerous.
 

Thrillerlover

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I'm not a big fan of reading novels on the Kindle, but I do find myself increasingly listening to books on tape.
 

annak97

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Books will never become obsolete. Sure, in the simplest form, maybe, eventually, in the far future, we won't have paperbacks and hardcovers anymore. But think about it. Writing is a facet of art, just as books are a facet of writing, and art is part of our humanity. Books have the power to transport someone to another world, to completely immerse them in words and images, to thrill their veins with fear and with love and with excitement. Books will never become obsolete, because that means humanity will become obsolete. It is in our very natures to appreciate art, and thus to appreciate words and books and stories. So sure, the physical paperback book might eventually disappear. But not in our lifetime, not when we still love the feel of paper in our hands, the fresh smell, and the sounds of a spine cracking. Because while we still love them, there will always be someone who has the power to make them.


I apologize for the rant. I get carried away about writing and books. But then again, this is the best place to get carried away about such things :D
 

BookmarkUnicorn

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Where I live we don't have any used book stores or normal book stores for that matter. Your only chance to find a book and actually pick it up and touch it is at Walmart or the tiny book section at Safeway, both often at full price. Buying online is really the only way I even get to see most books. I do have a kindle paperwhite but often I can buy a book for much cheaper in paperback. I don't think paper format will ever totally die out, not while there are still collectors that love the smell and feel of a nice old book.
 

gcommon

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Not speaking of ebooks; books aren't reliant on electricity or any other type of technology to function. Of course you have to print them with technology but after it's printed it's a self sustaining source of entertainment. If something ever happens as we revert back to a time without tech or power, we'll still have our books. Paper documents hold more power then electronic ones do.
 

kylaurel

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A place for all

I think that e-books will eventually replace print for fiction, but it will take a while. The market share grows every year as more and more people get turned on to e-readers and tablets. I'm an old fart (68 years old) and I prefer reading e-books. However, others I know in my age group are divided in their preference. Some want only print, others only e-books, and some read both. Even my 87-year old aunt reads fiction on a Nook Color.

It used to be whenever I moved from one home to another, I had to lug hundreds of books; now I can take thousands on a lightweight gadget. Can't beat that! And I love being able to make the text whatever size I want and being able to click on a word I'm not sure of and see the definition. I like mysteries and often go back in a book to see something I think I read that I later think might have been a clue. In a print book that requires time and a lot of page-flipping. With an e-book, if I can remember just a few words, I can usually search for the spot. Give me an e-book any day for fiction!

However -- I think print is here to stay for instructional manuals, art and photography books, etc. At least for me. I prefer magazines in print, too. I just can't get the hang of reading them on tablets or e-readers.

Whether a book is print or digital or audio -- it's still a BOOK! That's what matters.
 

elizrose23

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I truly feel there is a passion for books that will keep them around, regardless of technology. Everyone who prefers books to ebooks, including myself, seems to become so impassioned when the topic comes up: They love books and they will fight for their books. I also agree with those who have made the point it is an art form, and that is one of the reasons it will remain.

Also, and I know this involves children's literature and not adult, but what about picture books? Is everyone really going to get rid of that? It's so nice to have a child interact with something that doesn't need a charge. I've seen kids read on iPads, and it's not the same. They don't engage with the text in the same way. And this is just personal preference, but I myself would never want to sit down with a tablet or kindle at night to read to my kids before bed.

I'm sorry this is turning into a rant, but I love books. I love the weight of them, I love displaying them in bookcases, providing me a nice visible journey of where I've traveled in the land of stories. I love physically turning the page, the smell of the paper, and how each printed book feels different and is unique. There is an emotional connection to books that I just can't find with ebooks, and I know many others who feel this way as well, and they're not old, like myself (I'm 27). We would have this debate in college literature classes and those who preferred books were always the majority.

So, in summary, and I could be very wrong, time will tell, but I think books are here to stay because the love for the printed text is just too strong.
 

Sweetwheat

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hmm. I but books from traditional published authors through B&N, but from Indies through my Kindle. If that helps answer your Q. lol.
 

Leslie Williams

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I heard someone say that if an EMP hit the US in one of 4 places (not big cities but where internet is vitally routed etc) it would take out all computer technology and take 20 years to recover. So hang on to your print books :}

leslie williams

Also, I enjoy ordering from ABE Books, used and often incredibly cheap and they come in the mail and are waiting in your mailbox when you've had a hard day.
 
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soho-syndrome

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I have nothing against ebooks (I read on my iPhone all the time), but when I discover a book that I really enjoyed I go ahead and buy the hardbound copy of it. At the end of the day, nothing beats the feel and smell of crisp pages :)
 

Mojocastle

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I don't feel the want for paper books will ever die out, even if the need does. Ebooks give people the instant gratification hit they enjoy, but being able to hold the physical book is soothing, and depending on the location one wishes to read in, better suited than an electronic device. Also, you don't have to worry about charging them.
 

Komnena

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Disasters can strike physical books too. I am sorting through my physical books because of bedbugs. I'm having to throw out many of them. I guess there's no such thing as a perfect solution.
If you value your printed books I would suggest you start securing them in ziplock bags now. I'm having to do it in a rush job. I wish I had started doing this years ago.
 
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SquirrellyGirl

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my two cents

It looks like I am in the minority, but I have to admit that I love ebooks, for a bunch or reasons. I have a bookcase (or two) in every single room of my house, and every one is overflowing. I have books in boxes, stuck in drawers, under every bed... I've considered turning an entire room of my house into a library (if only I had an extra room!). The books I have take up A LOT of space. I can have all those books in one hand on my Nook. I can also share my entire virtual library with all the other people in my house simultaneously, which means that we don't fight over the book we're all currently reading anymore (we all have Nooks). And I never lose a book, they're all right there forever. I have spent hours searching every one of those book cases because Kid #3 has just grown into a series her brothers outgrew years ago, and now I can't find #7 and she's just finished #6, and I don't want to buy it because I KNOW I have it somewhere! And when I really can't find #7 and give up, I walk to the computer, type the title into the search box, click pay, and that book is instantly there. She can continue reading, even though it's 11pm on Friday night.
 

tianaluthien

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I spent about 4 1/2 years working in a bookstore (Indigo, of the Chapters-Indigo chain in Canada), and about halfway through my time we started selling the Kobo e-reader to compete with the Kindle from Amazon.

I understand that ereaders have their place (I mean, if you travel a lot it's perfect: instead of carrying 5 books with you because you don't know what to read, you carry your entire library in something that fits in your handbag).

But.

I still hate them. And I was thankfully never given a shift where I had to sell them because I would have done a very poor job of it. I love the feel of a book between my fingers, the smell of the pages. I love walking into a bookstore and browsing the stacks. I love roving through my own bookshelves and discovering something I haven't read yet, or re-discovering an old friend, pulling it out to read a much loved passage.

As much as possible, I try to buy my books from the store itself and only order online if I absolutely cannot get it any other way (I've discovered bookdepository which is AMAZING. Ships from the UK but free shipping to Canada, no matter how much your order totals. Sweet. And so dangerous.).

I do not think books will ever go out of style. Thus far they have withstood the test of time and I think they will continue to do so. Ereaders are a new technology and (IMHO) the craze for them will eventually settle and they will find their niche alongside print volumes.

That being said, I don't know about the future of big chain bookstores. I know that selling gift product was, quote, "What saved us [this] Christmas." And yet smaller bookstores in the city, like Paragraph, are doing well.
 

C.bronco

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Books will Never become obsolete because I will slay those who seek to stifle books with my Elder Wand! They will run, crying, and I will decadently roll in pages, laughing at their folly. Mwa ha ha!

Or,


Just no. Sometimes the internet and electricity goes out. Books don't run out of juice or rely on technology to exist.
 

Godyth

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I, too, enjoy my Kindle. I read novels on it. It can go in my bag so that if I'm sitting and waiting anywhere, I can pull it out. However, I do love the tactile nature of a book. I like to be able to flip back and forth, to stick in post it notes and mark in the margins (my working copies), but I especially just love to sit and read with the occasional turn of a page. It's a zen thing.
Having said that, I ponder the question of the eventual demise of the printed book.
No one thought that photography would ever go away, but try to find a camera that's not digital. "Well, I can buy one on Ebay" you say, and my answer to that is: yes, you can. Now try to find the film, and the developer and all the other little things that make wet lab work possible. Is traditional photography still practiced? Yes, by a very few who are dedicated and are willing to pay extra to those few, small independent companies who make small batches of materials once or twice a year for the diehards. But, is photography as we knew it gone? Yes, on a practical level.
So, will books disappear? Probably not. But, will they continue to be produced in the way we now understand them to be published, by the 10's of thousands or millions through large publishing houses? Maybe not. Small runs of very special books by very special authors subsidized by the handful of dedicated readers willing to support a specialized market might be the future.
 

Komnena

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Film has mostly gone, true. But do digital cameras not take photographs just like film cameras did?
 

Creative Ghost

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Film has mostly gone, true. But do digital cameras not take photographs just like film cameras did?
Yes. Just as ebooks tell stories with words just like print books do. Only digitally.
 
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jtsavoy

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As a writer, I find the e-book format works best for me in my current situation.

With Scrivener as my main tool, I see greater control over the finished product in the ebook format. However, I also recognize that there are pros and cons to each. The main bookstores in NY have all but dried up. Which is sad. They tried adding a lot of other amenities to make it more reader friendly (cafes, reading nooks, even play areas for kids) in several large chains. Unfortunately fewer and fewer people shopped to support the staff, rents, inventory, etc of large chain retails. BnN is still hunkered down, but some great spots are gone.
I did like my discovery of new works from the cream of the crop when I did check into those old bookstores. It had also been my dream to walk into some places and see my covers next to my fav authors. Funny enough, now I get the same sensation opening my iBooks and seeing my stuff in my own personal bookstore next to those same inspirations.
Not really an answer to the question. Just early Monday thoughts!
 

juniper

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I, too, enjoy my Kindle. I read novels on it. It can go in my bag so that if I'm sitting and waiting anywhere, I can pull it out. However, I do love the tactile nature of a book. I like to be able to flip back and forth, to stick in post it notes and mark in the margins (my working copies), but I especially just love to sit and read with the occasional turn of a page.

This is pretty much me, except for the Kindle part (I don't do Amazon books). I started out with a Kobo a couple of years ago but went to the Nook because Kobo customer service is just awful.

I really like the tactile aspects of reading. The paper pages. The holding the book. Being able to turn back a couple of pages to find a certain passage again.

With physical books I can remember where on a page a specific sentence or paragraph was - "About halfway through the book, on the left side, near the bottom." Can't do that on ebooks, since the pages all flow together. I can't instantly tell how far along I am in the ebook - have to check the page number (and some ebooks don't have the pages numbered ... that's a problem).

But - I took my Nook on vacation this summer and it was wonderful. Wonderful! A bunch of books with me that weren't heavy and cumbersome carrying around through airports. Plus I was at a place that doesn't have electric lights in the bedrooms so at night I could read without a flashlight - I have a Nook Glowlight that has its own lighting.

So - I swing both ways on books. I like THIS because ... and THAT because ... I guess I just like books, period. :)
 

larissahinton

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It looks like I am in the minority, but I have to admit that I love ebooks, for a bunch or reasons. I have a bookcase (or two) in every single room of my house, and every one is overflowing. I have books in boxes, stuck in drawers, under every bed... I've considered turning an entire room of my house into a library (if only I had an extra room!). The books I have take up A LOT of space. I can have all those books in one hand on my Nook. I can also share my entire virtual library with all the other people in my house simultaneously, which means that we don't fight over the book we're all currently reading anymore (we all have Nooks). And I never lose a book, they're all right there forever. I have spent hours searching every one of those book cases because Kid #3 has just grown into a series her brothers outgrew years ago, and now I can't find #7 and she's just finished #6, and I don't want to buy it because I KNOW I have it somewhere! And when I really can't find #7 and give up, I walk to the computer, type the title into the search box, click pay, and that book is instantly there. She can continue reading, even though it's 11pm on Friday night.

This is exactly why I love my kindle. I can store a ton of books on one device and not have to lug five books in a tote bag. And, I don't have to get the eye rolls from my family that I have a bag that's about the same size of me. Not to mention, I don't have to worry about my shoulders getting all achy.

Don't get me wrong, I still love going to the library and borrowing books. I like reading books in print form. I just don't like to walk away with a tower of books and pray I can make it to the car.

Anyway, I don't think books are obsolete. My public library is always packed. Always. And my students (yes, I'm an English teacher) from my last years group mostly read print books even though they are allowed to use their cell phones or ereaders. It's too early to tell with this years group since they haven't really gotten used to the daily reading yet (a.k.a. still equal reading with torture or sleep time). So all of this to say, books aren't going anywhere. The book stores may become obsolete (like Borders) but not actual books.