is print dying?
At first the thought horrified me. The image of Fahrenheit 451, with fugitives memorizing outlawed books and the book police with dull little red lights visible at 10 feet on their motor vehicles and sirens as shrill as smoke detectors with weak batteries.
But I wonder...is the future of books - online, and with the 'green' generation of "oh, it damages the environment," winding(whining) its way to the forefront(completely forgetting, of course, recycling) - going to be left to little devices like Amazon's Kindle?
Not for me, friend. That would be like wheeling an iron lung the size of a refrigerator around just to keep breathing. Besides, it wouldn't be as enjoyable visiting used-book stores anymore searching for babes in black dark-rimmed glasses. Not dragging my iron lung around, no sir!
And then there's the scent of a book. Dear Reader Of Books, I don't need to tell you the love of the wisping aroma turn of a yellow-worn page. And I really don't mind finding the remnants of a mustard-dripping sandwich from the previous owner. Really.
posted by phil at 12:19 PM
3 Comments:
Print dying? No sir-riee...
I still remember 10 years ago, when the whole "electronic office" bubble started... How many times back then we heard, that it's the end of papers in offices? How did that end up? When I talked about this with my boss, he told me that since then they're printing 50% more pages of text per document - since all has electronic original, you have to print also one copy as original for archivation.
And of course, exactly as you say, there's no replacement for the feeling of familiar yellowish pages in hands, the weight of book in hand while carrying it from room to room, and falling asleep with book in hand or just next to pillow (or in my case, under pillow).
Try that with laptop or some other "gadget"!
And lets not forget the wonderful view of books standing in a neat colourful row on the shelf! What could we have instead of it in our reading-room? Row of DVD's? Haha!
And one last point - I can never concentrate as much on what I'm reading, as when it's printed. Reading off the screen simply doesn't work for me.
So, no fear my friend, there's plenty of paper with wonderful stuff printed on it yet to come! :)
The smell, the feel, the sight... I agree, nothing could replace a book. I like old ones too, a bit musty, well-loved with softened pages. And no batteries required.
Does print include lots of pictures?
As for no batteries required - come on. A girls' gotta have her batteries ;)
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