Are books obsolete? If not now, will they ever be?
I don't own a kindle. I've never used any kind of electronic book. Not because I have a love for the medium of printed books or a prejudice against e-books, I just haven't gotten around to switching yet. But it seems clear to me that books are obsolete technology.
The point of a book is to convey some form of information. And it is easier, faster, and cheaper to convey that information digitally than in print form. That's good news for consumers, bad news for the publishing industry. (newspapers are only the tip of the iceberg)
I think the first place to change will be in school text books. Printed textbooks fall out of date quickly. They are expensive to publish. And if you stuff 4 or 5 of them in a backpack, they can get damn heavy! E-books don't suffer from these limitations. I know California is already in the process of switching to e-books in it's public schools, and I'm sure other places are transitioning too.
I do, however, have a few caveats about e-books. It's possible, especially during the beginnings of the transition, that a reading gap could occur between technology "haves" and "have-nots." E-readers are expensive right now, and that could exclude people from poorer economic backgrounds from participation.
Also, consolidating information into very few sources can be dangerous. For example, e-books make it much easier to censor "objectionable language" or even information. Digital technology is so fluid that banning books could become as easy as deleting a file.
DRM can also be a problem. I don't want to lose my library because my books aren't "compatible." I need to know that if I switch from Microsoft to Amazon or whoever else, my books are switching too. DRM could also make it difficult to share books with friends or to work collaboratively.
Before a full transition to e-books can become a reality, these issues need to be resolved. And I think they will be resolved. Not by governments or publishers, but by the readers themselves. Digital technology is a very democratizing force. And I think that if any authority tries to exert undue control over the media, the readers will push back.
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For me, I'm not the biggest fan of e-books. It has little to do with price, convenience, etc., and more to do with just personal preference. I don't like staring at my computer for long periods of time to read (it gives me headaches), so why stare at an e-book for an extended period of time. Maybe I'm just being old-fashioned, but I like flipping the pages and such (although I do prefer internet news sources over the newspaper...I don't like the feel of a newspaper).
And to go along with your points on e-books in the classroom...while textbooks do go out of date quickly, so does technology! I think it's easy to assume e-books will be around for quite awhile, but in this day and age, you never know what's going to be "in" one minute and obsolete the next.
And as far as costs go, I wonder how much of a difference in costs there will be ultimately in print vs. digital. Yes the costs of replacing 5 or so subject areas worth of textbooks are high, but does it outweigh the cost and maintenance of an e-book?
I think maintenance of an e-book isn't something that should be overlooked. What happens when the technology fails and a student needs repairs? What will happen to their files? What will they use in the meantime? How expensive will repairs be, and if 100/500 students every year need repair work, what will the average cost of that be? What about updates for e-books and their costs?
We have graphing calculators for all the math classrooms and they constantly need to be replaced every couple of years because of the wear and tear they go through. It's ridiculous. Our math books? Going strong for over twenty years (although outdated)!
Just something to think about. I'll be curious how they work out for the California public schools.
Why do people like flipping pages so much? I love books, but I have never enjoyed flipping pages. I don't understand the attraction. But a lot of people mention that they like flipping pages while reading, so I might be in the minority on this one.
E-books are a general idea, not a specific technology. Consider digital music. It went through a lot of formats: .wav, .wma, .mp3 etc. and I'm sure there will be another format eventually. But digital music as a concept is unaffected by technological changes.
It's the same for e-books. The technology can (and will) change, but the concept will remain.
As to cost, I think you're confusing e-books with e-readers. E-books are just digital information. They can be read on a variety of devices. Not just e-readers, but PC's, cell phones, etc. They don't have maintenance costs, and they are WAY cheaper than printed textbooks because there is practically no overhead.
But even if a school chose to go with e-readers (which would be unnecessary in a classroom where every student has a computer, my next "discussion question"...) the e-readers would still be cheaper to buy and maintain than printed textbooks because you only need 1 per student.
It would be a lot cheaper to buy every student a Kindle that can hold all their textbooks (and a lot more besides) than to buy every student 6 printed textbooks.
I think I just kind of lumped e-books and e-readers all in one. You're right; they are separate things.
I still disagree that it would be "way cheaper".
I'm sure the e-book itself would not cost much, but when you buy the readers, computers, and such you are increasing your costs drastically. And your assuming it's all going to work and be reliable- it's not. Throw in the fact the technology, like the texts, will constantly need updating ($$$), it's not going to be cheap.
So yes, e-books versus texts- e-books are cheaper. But you can't have the e-books without the technology to read/use them, which will bring up your costs drastically. Textbooks your only cost to use them are the books themselves.
Haha, you would hate flipping pages. Lazy bum.
If the e-readers don't work out, perhaps they'll invent a robot/machine to flip your pages for you. Flippertron.
Haha, if there was a robot that somehow knew exactly when to flip the page after I had read it, I would totally buy it. Flippertron sounds great. And it should come with a stand too, so I don't even have to hold it.
(...and instead of words, the stories should be acted out with moving pictures...and with sound...and a remote control that can change between stories if I get bored with one...)
I guess I don't really know too much about the costs. Perhaps you're right, if a school starts from scratch the savings will be minimal.
But I think the technology will already be there. I think computers will be integrated into the classrooms for other reasons, so the schools will already be paying the maintenance/replacement costs anyway.
I think E-textbooks will just be a capitalization on the digital classroom.
By the way, I'm all for the e-books in the classroom. Students are connected and wired in every facet of their lives, so why not keep them "plugged in" inside the classroom? In the world of education technology has become a tool to keep students engaged and for teachers to create more stimulating and rigourous lessons.
"(...and instead of words, the stories should be acted out with moving pictures...and with sound...and a remote control that can change between stories if I get bored with one...)"
Haha, this made me laugh of out loud.
But as the creator of Flippertron, I'm afraid the function you are requesting is currently unavailable.
Flippertron does, however, offer five varieties of beverages (of your choosing, of course) in the event your mouth becomes parched during your reading. All beverages are served in a Flippertron collectable mug with crushed ice and a cool bendy straw.
And Flippertron will do your laundry (ironing and folding Flippertrons are available at a higher price_.
It offers beverages and does laundry? I hope the liquid detergent nozzle doesn't get confused with the beverage nozzle. Although it would be hilarious if someone was served a glass of Tide while washing their clothes in blue gatorade....
As long as its not your laundry being washed in gatorade and you're not the one drinking Tide, of course.
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