Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age

Technology wrtier Mike Elgan has an article on the Computerworld website unambiguously entitled “Why e-books are bound to fail” (which, if the main headline left you wondering about Elgan’s thoughts on the issue, the sub-headline should remove all doubt: “Electronic books pack bleeding-edge technology, too bad they’ll never catch on”). Elgan, in going through his reasons for why he thinks eBooks are dead in the water, touches upon all of the usual reasons, some real and some simply imaginary. But in the end, Elgan’s big show-stopping pronouncement is that “people love paper books.” And because of this, “e-books are not, and cannot be, superior to what they are designed to replace.” Sure, some people love paper books. But some people have never thought about a book in their life, and simply want the stories and ideas that books contain. And to talk about one format being superior to another is silly; this isn’t a joust, it’s about utility, and the fact is that electronic books can do plenty of things that paper books cannot do.

But beyond all that, I really do think it’s insane for a technology writer, who’s writing for a publication entitled Computerworld, to write a sentence such as ”Unfortunately, these [eBook] products — as well as the whole product category — are destined for failure.” Mainly because Elgan has little to back up his claim beyond the usual facile arguments, including the fact that people will never want to “’curl up’ with a battery-operated plastic screen.” I don’t know what kind of computers populate Elgan’s world, but people “curl up” with “battery-operated plastic screens” all the time. What does he think an iPod or a laptop is? Or a Blackberry? In fact, these items are now an entire generation’s prized possessions. Most kids today “curl up” with nothing but battery-operated plastic screens (when they’re not curling up with other teens, that is). To these kids these aren’t even gadgets, but instead these are everday objects that form an essential part of their lives. The same goes presumably for Computerworld’s subscribers and readers. So no matter how much people “love paper books,” we indeed live in a computer-filled world, leading increasingly digital lives, and the world of literature will eventually yield to “battery-operated screens” the same way that music did.

Computerworld: Why e-books are bound to fail