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

[Marghanita da Cruz]

Ivan Trundle wrote:
> 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.
> 

Perhaps the novel will live on in book form.

I still enjoy reading the Weekend Australian on a Saturday morning. Though for
news I am fast becoming an RSS Feed Junkie.

As Rik mentioned previously, hardcopy manuals are a thing of the past. In fact
manuals seem to be a thing of the past - just ask google. Though I do confess to
tracking down an online printer manual, to squeeze out the Inkpad. but that's
another story <http://www.ramin.com.au/linux/>.

and  it wouldn't hurt for poetry and drama to move off the text page to recorded
words as intended by the author.

> 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
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://www.ramin.com.au
Phone: (+61)0414 869202