Unshelved on e-books vs. paper books
Library humor webcomic “Unshelved” today offers some gentle ribbing of e-book enthusiasts. (Click for the punchline.)
Just another reason it is doubtful e-books will ever replace paper books, the same way paperbacks have never replaced hardcovers.
But, as the punchline shows, there’s no reason they can’t continue to exist side by side.
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Today a student asked what I was reading. Without thinking about it, I replied, “On paper I’m reading Asimov. On the Kindle I’m reading Rex Stout.”
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Ah yes, electricity … this is why TV will never replace the zoetrope!
August 4th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Also, the automobile will probably never replaced the horse. The genuine smell, and the tactile experience of a horse, as well as the joy of owning one… ah. You don’t get this from some technical artifact made of plastics and metal.
If cars only were more horse-like. If they could whinny and gallop, maybe I would buy one.
Also, the price really needs to come down.
August 4th, 2009 at 10:42 am
if ‘replacement’ is to happen, i’d predict it will be awhile before it does. digitizing society’s giant print backlog — and prioritizing it for digitization — will be super-challenging.
scarily, even though i’ve purchased some (used) print recently, and have quite a bit of material in print that is not yet available electronically, i have *read* nothing in print since i got my kindle in february. i just don’t take print with me, and i really don’t ‘read’ at home (although i do browse cookbooks and craft books). a simple, and slightly depressing, fact of my life.
which makes me wonder. will printed books once again become so expensive that they will be priced out of reach of the average consumer? and — as e-reader prices continue to drop — should we care, or not?
August 4th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
The automobile hasn’t replaced the horse.
Just try taking a car on a trail ride sometime.
August 4th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
The car has replaced the horse.
Just try taking a horse on I-95 sometime.
August 4th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I can read my Sony reader while it charges.
It’s a punchline only if you don’t know anything about ebook readers.
Not funny, untrue and totally pointless.
August 4th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
HeavyG: If the car had replaced the horse, there wouldn’t be any horses left anymore. They’d have gone the way of the passenger pigeon. But there are still hundreds of thousands of horses around, being used for things that cars wouldn’t be good for—just as cars are being used for things that horses aren’t as good for (unless you’re Amish, of course).
Likewise, even after e-books have been widely adopted, paper books will not vanish. They’ll stay around, used for things that e-books aren’t as good for—just as e-books will be used for things that paper books aren’t as good for.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
@Chris Meadows
My point, exactly. Cars did not replace horses as being horses. But they _did_ replace them as the primary means of transportation.