It’s not just the Palestinians and Israelis who are in need of a “road map” (or some people think they are anyway). The rest of us need one for purposes of understanding the unbelievable amount of information available online, according to Richard Fernandez, writing on Pajamas today. Only evidently we’re not going to have one.
Like some vast terra incognita, the undiscovered country of human knowledge expands constantly, defying even attempts to survey it.
Richard is responding to a piece in The New Yorker by Anthony Grafton, which waxes nostalgic for the printed word and his days and nights in the New York Public Library. As an author of books, I certainly sympathize with Grafton, but, like Fernandez, recognize the inevitability of everything digital, even though I haven’t bought a Kindle yet. (Well, it’s only been a week or so… fast even for an early adopter like me. I just bought my iPhone two days ago.)
What’s interesting to me about the Kindle is how it blurs the line of books and digital media even while attempting to imitate the look and feel of a book. Perhaps it is a transitional device. In fact, it has to be a transitional device. Everything is, isn’t it?
(Richard’s article, btw, is definitely worth a look.)
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7 Comments
1. Lem:Kindle could be useful in the field of AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction).
If you dont have to print & fedex a design change could be in the field as soon as its approved.
I wonder who is going to be ëdelayingí who?
Nov 27, 2007 - 2:13 pm 2. Barry Dauphin:If they make textbooks available for Kindle, they will be much cheaper than the hardbacks that the kids have to buy, and every college kid will feel they have to have the thing. It’s only a matter of time before digital books will be the thing. Maybe not this year but not too far off I suspect.
Nov 27, 2007 - 9:23 pm 3. Godzilla:While I do think that all forms of print writing in the less-than-10,000 word category has some serious competition on its hand, I also think that traditional book-length material (fiction and non-fiction) is safe.
But the amount of information that I expose myself to on a daily basis online, all the different positions and choices concerning just about anything one can think of, prompted me to dust off my old logic textbook and discrete mathematics textbook. Actually, I upgraded to recent editions. It occurred to me that never before in my life has it been so important to not let myself be ruled by the emotions of the moment. One must know how to spot valid arguments from the invalid ones. One must be able to spot unsound arguments that are valid. Or spot a true conclusion when the arguments are unsound (which require only a rephrasing of the argument). And so on. It was the only way, short of turning off my television and computer, that I could take control of my mind again and make reasoned, sound decisions about the information that comes my way. The alternative is to be ruled by emotions, going through the day being pissed off at one thing or another, depending upon the latest outrage or instance of stupidity which was brought to my attention.
Nov 28, 2007 - 11:08 am 4. Doug S.:I have yet to come anywhere near a Kindle (or any other ebook reader), so I can’t comment on how well they actually work. But I can’t imagine ever dispensing entirely with the physical feel of holding a book in my hands, or the mental/emotional experience of having books around me. And I say that as someone who is probably more comfortable with digital information technology than at least half of my generation.
But I think Barry Dauphin nails it with what will be the first great application for ebook readers ÔøΩ as textbook aggregators. Not just for college students, but at the secondary and primary levels. Think of how much districts spend on physical copies of textbooks, not just new ones, but replacing damaged and worn ones. They could save a lot of money at little or no loss in efficacy. Plus, the kids wouldn’t have to lug backpacks heavy enough to qualify as a lethal weapon. That’s probably where the ebook revolution will start in earnest.
Nov 28, 2007 - 7:45 pm 5. Grumpy Old Man:It sounds like it needs some tweaking and a price reduction, but it could be great for students, who have to carry huge backpacks with heavy textbooks.
I suppose they could take notes in it, too.
Nov 28, 2007 - 8:18 pm 6. John Moreschi:I saw Amazon’s CEO talk about the Kindle on Charlie Rose and it looks great.
My only question is how do you underline/highlight it? I can’t read a book with out underlining it, even fiction. If it’s not worth underlining it’s not worth reading as far as I’m concerned. To underline a book is very easy, take a ballpoint and underline. The Amazon guy said you can highlight and make margin notes as you read. I need to know how that is done before I can even think about getting one.
Any experienced Kindle users out there?
Thanx,
Nov 29, 2007 - 11:42 am 7. Sgt. Mom:Well, I just made my book, “To Truckee’s Trail” available in the Kindle Store, (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010B8PHS) with the hopes that this is the breakthrough device that will equalize the price difference between a POD book and one published by by traditional publishers, with the result that books by indie authors will become more compeditive overall.
Oh, and it might save some trees, too
Nov 30, 2007 - 5:05 am