E-Books: not dead yet - lovely - functional

Colin Dunstan · 09-30-2004, 04:25 AM

Today I read a lovely essay on the development of the e-book market by James Patrick Kelly from Asimov's Sci-Fi mag.

James first analyzes why e-books are not dead yet as many pundits would have predicted in 2001. His main argument is the jump in e-books sales experienced since 2003.

He then goes on citing authors why they generally prefer p-books:

Neil Gaiman: "(I like) The smell of paper, the way the book feels, the look of it, the heft."
Tanith Lee: "(I like) Everything. Touch, smell, appearance. Content, of course."

Well, you cannot sniff e-books. So what? It is only a question of time before some crazy hardware developer announces the first hardware e-book reader with articifical book fragrance.

The third paragraph of the essay is the strongest. Here James talks about the functionality of e-books:

Ebooks are almost infinitely mutable. You can turn them into webpages, send them to a publisher to be printed on paper, format them at home however you please (large print, double columns), have your computer read them aloud to you or send them to your cousin in Stuttgart. You can carry hundreds of them around on a flash memory stick the size of a Bic lighter. You can find any ebook in your elibrary at the tap of a few keys and search that book in an instant for a place or a character or a memorable quote.

He forgot at least one more benefit: You don't have to breath in anymore the toxic fumes of dusty paper books

Alexander Turcic · 09-30-2004, 11:09 AM

This is a nice summery of why e-books won't disappear despite all gloomy naysayers.

Francesco · 09-30-2004, 02:59 PM

I guess what a pBook fetichist could do while reading disgustingly aseptic eBooks is to open a pBook with his/her favourite smell and shape to grope with his/her free hand.

Both p and e are great, why should we choose when we can have them both?

macrotor · 10-05-2004, 01:39 PM

Paper? Blech. Dusty, dry, rustling finger-cutting dead trees! I love the feel of the smooth titanium case, the glow of the colored hi-res screen, and the comfortable heft of a strong battery! The smell.....there is no smell.....that's what's so good about it!

09-30-2004, 04:25 AM	#1
Colin Dunstan Is papyrophobic! Posts: 1,926 Karma: 1009999 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: USA Device: Dell Axim	E-Books: not dead yet - lovely - functional Today I read a lovely essay on the development of the e-book market by James Patrick Kelly from Asimov's Sci-Fi mag. James first analyzes why e-books are not dead yet as many pundits would have predicted in 2001. His main argument is the jump in e-books sales experienced since 2003. He then goes on citing authors why they generally prefer p-books: Neil Gaiman: "(I like) The smell of paper, the way the book feels, the look of it, the heft." Tanith Lee: "(I like) Everything. Touch, smell, appearance. Content, of course." Well, you cannot sniff e-books. So what? It is only a question of time before some crazy hardware developer announces the first hardware e-book reader with articifical book fragrance. The third paragraph of the essay is the strongest. Here James talks about the functionality of e-books: Ebooks are almost infinitely mutable. You can turn them into webpages, send them to a publisher to be printed on paper, format them at home however you please (large print, double columns), have your computer read them aloud to you or send them to your cousin in Stuttgart. You can carry hundreds of them around on a flash memory stick the size of a Bic lighter. You can find any ebook in your elibrary at the tap of a few keys and search that book in an instant for a place or a character or a memorable quote. He forgot at least one more benefit: You don't have to breath in anymore the toxic fumes of dusty paper books

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09-30-2004, 11:09 AM	#2
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,171 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	This is a nice summery of why e-books won't disappear despite all gloomy naysayers.

09-30-2004, 02:59 PM	#3
Francesco Aficionado Posts: 391 Karma: 710 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Denver, CO, USA Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Touch	I guess what a pBook fetichist could do while reading disgustingly aseptic eBooks is to open a pBook with his/her favourite smell and shape to grope with his/her free hand. Both p and e are great, why should we choose when we can have them both?

10-05-2004, 01:39 PM	#4
macrotor Connoisseur Posts: 59 Karma: 2418 Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Fremont, CA, USA Device: Tungsten\|C with Nokia6200	Paper? Blech. Dusty, dry, rustling finger-cutting dead trees! I love the feel of the smooth titanium case, the glow of the colored hi-res screen, and the comfortable heft of a strong battery! The smell.....there is no smell.....that's what's so good about it!

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