Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age

On Monday, Information Age columnist L. Gordon Crovitz had an essay in the Wall Street Journal entitled “The Digital Future of Books.” The essay is ostensibly about the Kindle, but he also touches upon the general idea and nature of digital books. For instance, Crovitz writes that “perhaps a new digital device like the Kindle can help us regain the attention spans earlier devices helped us lose. If so, this could become a great era for books, or more accurately for the future of words that for centuries could be delivered only in book form.”

He also quotes a bit from my book, Print is Dead:

Much is at stake. As Mr. Gomez concluded, “what’s really important is the culture of ideas and innovation” books represent. But “to expect future generations to be satisfied with printed books is like expecting the BlackBerry users of today to start communicating by writing letters, stuffing envelopes and licking stamps.”

It’s a nice article, and I especially like its last line: “With innovations like the Kindle, digital media can help return to us our attention spans and extend what makes books great: words and their meaning.”