Why I Love Books (And Why They Will Never Die)

Filed under Proactive Writer.

I have argued loudly, and persistently, that books delivered in a digital format are the future of publishing. Despite this blog post, I still believe this to be true… but, and there is a but, this does not mean books will wither and die and here’s why…

Let’s start with what makes digital publishing so great. At the most basic level digital publishing, be it blogs, ebooks or ereader novels, represent a true democratisation of the publishing process. This makes me excited. I love that we live in an age where ideas can be spread at lightning speed. It is fact that anyone can instantly publish what they wish to an imaginably large readership. The financial and technological barriers to creating a blog, and then posting your ideas for others to read, are now so small that these barriers are all but non-existent. Add to the this the ease of distribution and the changing formats of consumption (think ipad) and you can see why digital delivery is here to stay.

Yet, these reasons are the exact same reasons why the print book will never die!

You see, digital delivery is immediate. It exists in an ever changing flow of information and ideas. To see an example of this you just need to leave your google reader unattended a couple of days, and then see just how many new posts have been added. The ease of content production, and our desire as humans to share, means that this flow will never stop.

But the democratic nature of the internet means that content is fluid and flexible, and a popular blog post is an excellent example of this ever changing flow. Within minutes of a blog post being published, comments and debate can appear, the resultant conversation and interaction moulds and manipulates the content. The ideas in that post remain intact only as long as it takes the first reader to read and comment.

Other digitally delivered material such as ebooks may be robust, but these have a second trait that plays into the hands of the print book and that is shelf life. The very nature of digital publishing means that the content is tied to the delivery format. The content will exist on your iPhone, or ipad or computer. It is intrinsically bound to the delivery system, remove the deliver system and the content is useless. Yet, as technology changes it is just a matter of time before the delivery system becomes obsolete (think CD). Yes, you might re-purchase the digital book in the new format, but this persistent change puts the life of the content under pressure. For me, this somehow degrades it’s value. This is not the value of the content or ideas, but the value of the format. The actual digital sequence of 0s and 1s. As the value decreases so does the reader’s instinct to treasure and preserve.

Thus the passage of time effects the digital material.

The way I think about this is to imagine time represented as a flowing river. As a person we exist in this river, being perpetually pushed forward, washed ahead. Part of the flow that surrounds us is the digital information. It washes around us, it is present for a moment, the now, and then is gone.

You could argue that search and the long tail in effect keep content alive – and it does. Yet this digital content only exists in the moment you perceive it. You read the web page and click away – it is gone from your reality. The CONTENT has no real future, it exists only in the now.

Yet what does persist, what does live in the past, present and future, what is independent from the river are IDEAS. These ideas live in our minds and travel with us as we move forward.

…and this brings us to books.

The reason I believe books are here to stay is that they are free of time…(stick with me).

Imagine I buy you a book today. You take the present home and read the content. It impacts on your life, but once read, you put the book on a shelf and continue to grow old. Ten years later you return to the book, remove it from the shelf and read it again. Though the river of time has flowed past, the book remains a constant, the words and ideas remain unaltered. You may perceive their value differently, but the book itself is free of time.

The fact that the content (the words) and the delivery system (the paper pages) are intrinsically bound means the book has a physical existence. It remains present, it travels with you through time. To access the information you simply pick it up and read. You need no technology. The book is free from the threat of being obsolete.

This is why books will never die. The printed format is the perfect delivery system. It is free, a part of itself. It lives independent from all else around it. The content and most importantly, the ideas live on.

This is why I love books.

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  • Fran Ham

    I enjoy just looking at my book shelves and remembering the pleasure I got from reading each one. I like to hold a book and feel the cover and even sniff the pages to take me back to the first time of reading. There are a couple of dozen hard backs from my childhood such as The Wind in the Willows and Brer Rabbit which not only bring back the stories vividly, but the happy bedtimes when my parents read aloud and we shared the fun together. I agree that digital is the future, but don’t lets obliterate the past!

    • garysmailes

      I am not sure digital IS the future. Don’t get me wrong, I think ebook etc will be huge. But print books are going to take some beating. Digital’s biggest advantage is cost and distribution but books offer value beyond the extra cost.

      No matter which way you cut it reading digitally requires a third party device – this is not the case for books.

  • Anonymous

    I like to read both formats, but I miss looking at the back cover when I’m reading an ebook. It’s just a habit, but I always check the back cover or author’s bio several times while I’m reading the book.
    If I think a book will be really special, then I will definitely go for the print version, even if I never read a book twice, but I like to know it will stay with me as you said.

    • garysmailes

      I think a lot of people miss the covers of books when reading digitally. I suppose it is one of the compromises. The same thoughts were aired when vinyl/CD went to digital formats.

  • http://twitter.com/enxs Elle

    There arguments for and against both formats.
    Yes, digital has many advantages but nothing beats holding a book in your hands, savouring it and returning to it at your leisure.

    • garysmailes

      I suspect that this is not an either/or debate, I was just trying to make the point that print books are far more robust that many would have us believe.

  • http://twitter.com/authorterryo Terry Odell

    I love both. I really get irked when people seem to assume it’s ‘either/or’ I have hundreds of boxes of books still in the basement because we moved. I have an e-reader. I LOVE my e-reader. I LOVE my books. I use them differently. Each has its shortcomings, and each has its advantages. Every night, I can curl up in the dark with my back-lit e-reader and snuggle under the covers, reading without disturbing hubby. I can do the same at 3 AM if I can’t sleep. It’s a one-handed operation. There’s never a ‘too-heavy’ book, or a book that requires physical effort to hold open so I can read the print that runs into the gutters of a print book. But I would never give up my print library either.

    • garysmailes

      Reading in the dark with a backlit ereader certainly is an advantage I had not considered – great tip.

  • Fran Ham

    I enjoy just looking at my book shelves and remembering the pleasure I got from reading each one. I like to hold a book and feel the cover and even sniff the pages to take me back to the first time of reading. There are a couple of dozen hard backs from my childhood such as The Wind in the Willows and Brer Rabbit which not only bring back the stories vividly, but the happy bedtimes when my parents read aloud and we shared the fun together. I agree that digital is the future, but don't lets obliterate the past!

  • garysmailes

    I am not sure digital IS the future. Don't get me wrong, I think ebook etc will be huge. But print books are going to take some beating. Digital's biggest advantage is cost and distribution but books offer value beyond the extra cost.

    No matter which way you cut it reading digitally requires a third party device – this is not the case for books.

  • sarahcallejo

    I like to read both formats, but I miss looking at the back cover when I'm reading an ebook. It's just a habit, but I always check the back cover or author's bio several times while I'm reading the book.
    If I think a book will be really special, then I will definitely go for the print version, even if I never read a book twice, but I like to know it will stay with me as you said.

  • http://twitter.com/enxs Elle

    There arguments for and against both formats.
    Yes, digital has many advantages but nothing beats holding a book in your hands, savouring it and returning to it at your leisure.

  • http://twitter.com/authorterryo Terry Odell

    I love both. I really get irked when people seem to assume it's 'either/or' I have hundreds of boxes of books still in the basement because we moved. I have an e-reader. I LOVE my e-reader. I LOVE my books. I use them differently. Each has its shortcomings, and each has its advantages. Every night, I can curl up in the dark with my back-lit e-reader and snuggle under the covers, reading without disturbing hubby. I can do the same at 3 AM if I can't sleep. It's a one-handed operation. There's never a 'too-heavy' book, or a book that requires physical effort to hold open so I can read the print that runs into the gutters of a print book. But I would never give up my print library either.

  • garysmailes

    I think a lot of people miss the covers of books when reading digitally. I suppose it is one of the compromises. The same thoughts were aired when vinyl/CD went to digital formats.

  • garysmailes

    I suspect that this is not an either/or debate, I was just trying to make the point that print books are far more robust that many would have us believe.

  • garysmailes

    Reading in the dark with a backlit ereader certainly is an advantage I had not considered – great tip.