[LINK] The once and future e-book: on reading in the digital age

[Ivan Trundle]

On 05/02/2009, at 1:04 AM, Kim Holburn wrote:

>> Text
>> messages are short, you say? I'm willing to bet that the average
>> American will read substantially more text off his or her cell phone
>> screen this year than from a book.


'substantially more' is probably not the point. Americans are well- 
known for their paucity of book readers. That phenomenon is likely to  
spread.

I'm currently reading a series of classics by Joseph Conrad on my  
phone (tele-prompt style) - it's an interesting experience, and not  
one that is as enjoyable as a real book. As much as I try, there isn't  
enough contextual information for me to absorb the details of the story.

I regard it as being akin to driving a car at night in a complex  
environment with poor lights and no street lighting, but with the tail  
lights of the car in front remaining prominent - unlike daytime  
driving, where it is possible to soak in the richness of the  
environment.

And yet I've got enough pixels, my eyesight is still good enough, my  
comprehension generally more than adequate, but the whole experience  
is not as rewarding as having pages that I can flick in and out of.

Sure, it's possible to go forward and back, etc, in a digital book,  
but there is so much contextual richness in knowing where you are, and  
where you are going.

Kindle2 might well help to diminish these problems, but until I can  
replicate the book reading experience electronically, I won't enjoy it  
as much.

Incidentally, I read far more on-screen than in print, yet I am a  
member of a very active book club, I have at least two novels on my  
bedside table at any one time, and every room in the house has at  
least one large bookshelf or more crammed with books.

I do see an advantage down the track for e-books, however. My music  
collection has been transformed into the digital age long ago, and the  
shelves and drawers that I have full of CDs, cassettes and vinyl are  
all simply gathering dust: if I want to play music, I simply grab my  
phone, use its wireless link to the server which is now full of music,  
and choose what to play. The replacement box and associated hardware  
is 1/4 the size of my hi-fi gear, and once I ditch the old media, it  
will free up more room for ... books.

iT

--
Ivan Trundle
http://itrundle.com ivan at itrundle.com
ph: +61 (0)418 244 259 fx: +61 (0)2 6286 8742 skype: callto://ivanovitchk