The Battle to Define the Future of the Book in the Digital World

Thought this was a very good article in getting beyond superficial considerations of just translating a printed book directly into an e-book and examining some of the real issues, possibilities, and formats in e-books/e-print. The points about how readers will print out anything longer than a few pages to read and about the fluidity of digital information may result in losing historical snapshots of the current state of knowledge were both interesting. The mention of JSTOR reminded me of this great service, which is an archive for journals, and which be one of the ways to do historical snapshots so that information is preserved. Libraries may become great archives of DVDs full of books and other electronic media (once licensing, standards, and loaning rights are sorted out).

This, also: "I have yet to see a work of print fiction as storytelling designed for the digital environment ... Perhaps fiction as storytelling will remain most effective as a genre targeted for printed books (including print- on- demand books), and the future of storytelling in the digital medium will become something different that is still to be invented..." See, what did I say? A book doesn't need to compete with movies or games - once it does, it becomes a whole new genre of entertainment.

"The balance points among publisher fears, consumer desires, and technical capabilities have yet to be established for digital books" applies to the argument of Google Print referred to in my last entry, and the Amazon search-in-book function.

I'm not sure about his fear that censorship will be much easier: "However, the ability to censor or withdraw works on a comprehensive basis is, to my mind, one of the most terrifying capabilities that may be enabled by the new digital environment." Distribution will also be much easier. Yes, a book can be deleted easier than it can be burned, but it can be emailed easier than it can be physically hidden too. One surviving copy of a printed book is endangered, one surviving copy of an electronic book is a potential epidemic.