Are books dead?

I agree that to read Plato, you hit the library. But Plato did a lot of recounting Socrates. What if Socrates had had his own blog? And what about all those voices we miss because they never made it to print to be preserved? And how might have those thinkers better refined their thought if they had access to community the internet can create?

What if Aristotle could have been directly involved in XML, Topic Maps and Ontologies?

Seems like there's room for both. The majority of the 'Net is pulp fiction. But there's room for the classics too.

>Books do create conversations in our day and age. But most of them aren't on the Internet. Ever heard of a book group?

Huh?

http://pemberley.com/

Coming up on its 10th anniversary on the web!

books have limited utility as vehicles for sharing
information current information, insights and forecasts- but our "current" world, for better or worse is built on the insights and judgements of our predecessors, and the internet as a tool for examining anything even 20 years old - or older (!)
dimishes rapidly in contexual data -
(It DOES make a differennce if I am reading the New York Times or the Weekly World News, and that source attribution is frequently difficult to determine on the web.
the "packaging" of books gives some insight into who the author is, what else they may have done, and provides this sometimes crucial context for examining the information in its pages-
Thank you for the interesting question!
Brian McLaughlin, Syracuse, NY

I think the first thing all these death-of-book conversations need to do is define the word 'book' better. Although it would seem fairly obvious, people have attributed features to books that seem to go past the pages-between-bound-cover definition. For instance, you say that books are much better at conversations with thinkers like Plato than current alternatives. Yet the simplest reproduction of 'The Republic' on a free web site offers the same level of interactivity and conversive ability that the book itself does. You also say that Jeff Jarvis makes the false assumption that books cannot incorporate Web 2.0 features. I would argue that a book, by definition, is without technology, and that some future book-shaped viewing screen with storage capacity and web-interactivity (my personal vision of the book's future) would cease being a book.

We have to remember that a book is distinct from the content inside its pages. A book serves no other purpose than to provide a portable, semi-durable way to access that content. It has served its purpose for several thousand years, lowering the barriers to knowledge acquisition and empowering many in the world. But its static nature will prove its demise in the end. As the rate of change of the technological progression of our society continues to grow, anything without the ability to adapt to change will ultimately go the way of the platypus.

Steve--

You missed the most important thing about books that will maintain their importance forever.

They are the only way to cover a topic in depth, with some sort of permanence. All of the so-called replacements are temporary, here-today, gone-tomorrow, sound byte only vehicles.

Good work is independent of technology. You can't beat a good book. It's kind of like fireworks. Maybe they could do simulated fireworks by shooting pictures of fireworks into the sky with cameras (digital) and use big speakers to make the booms. You could fool some people with it, most people wouldn't fall for it. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Zambelli, who dedicated his whole life to fireworks. There are people who have dedicated their whole life to books. The presses will keep rolling. Paper is cheap, fireworks aren't!

I just caught this story. "Hughes and Hughes, the book retailer, announced that it is investing E1.2 million in the renovation of their six stores in Dublin airport." If you look at the business investments being made, you will find that books mean profits. It's a good business and it's here to stay. Our airport (PIT) has space. Maybe we'll get more book stores. We've been getting more airlines.

Doug brings up a great point, and one that newspapers can make: Depth and a thorough exploration of a subject, plot, or characters, etc.

I always laugh at people who are so extreme: "They (meaning books) are expensive to produce. They depend on scarce shelf space....They are thrown out when there’s no space for them anymore. Print is where words go to die."

Until the vast majority of people have Internet access or carry with them some mobible net device, there will always be a need for and value in traditional tried-and-true methods like print.

Extreme thinking like Jarvis discusses on books is very myopic. Wonder what people like him would do without a computer for a month, or even a week?

Besides, can you really curl up with a good laptop and read?
Mike

The Future of Books

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibriVox
http://librivox.org/catalog

“While they’ll be sold as computers, the tablet PC and its successors will finally give consumers a true surrogate for the printed page and thus put high-quality “book players” into millions of hands, making low-cost electronic distribution of books a reality. Readers will have a far wider range of titles to buy and will, moreover, be able to communicate more freely with authors and other readers. Publishers can supplement the “word of mouth” marketing that has always been a key element in book-selling with online reader forums, sophisticated rating systems and collaborative filtering technologies. Books may actually live or die on their merits, rather than lucky publicity.

In short: the Internet presents all the elements needed for a true reinvention and renaissance of book publishing. But both readers and writers will need to be patient, because publishing—the oldest mass medium—will almost certainly be the last to take advantage of the newest.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/692265.asp?cp1=1

This is a topic that's been keeping me up at night. I'm madly trying to finish my own book on blogging and sometimes can't help wondering if I'm laboring in the wrong medium. Chapters I wrote only a couple of months ago already need updating and it often makes me crazy that I can't link to richer, deeper content from the printed page.

But at the same time, I feel that this is an ideal time to be publishing a book with targeted appeal. Long tail distribution means that our books don't have to be mega-sellers to survive. Amazon proves that niche products along the tail can find vital audiences. Lulu.com released a study during the recent Book Expo in Washington, D.C. that analyzed book sales over the past fifty years. During the 1960s only three novels made it to the number one slot in an average year. Last year 23 books made the best seller list.

I'm looking forward to some vague future when all books can be hyperlinked and are as easy on the eye and biceps as a book is today, but meanwhile, I think it's a little early to be sounding the death knell for books.

Books don't need batteries.
Books can be read in bright sunlight.
Books have no hard drive to break.
Books are aesthetically pleasing--even the 'bad' ones have kitch value.
Books are inexpensive.
Books don't break.
Books tolerate abuse.
A book's content represent's the author's (s) singular purpose.
Typography is an art form that transends media--as is language.
Authoring a book lends credibility to the content as no 'blog' can.
To state that 'books are dead' is not at all representative of the present or near future of the publishing industry.
Try reading a DVD or a blog without an electronic device or an internet hook...you'd have to print it out.
It's all media...naw, books are here to stay.

While studying Labor and Worker Relations at Purdue University I came across staggering data and statistics regarding minorities, graduation rates and access to books. In todays high tech media environment, all people, young people especially need to be encouraged to read physical books. When I had my first child I was disappointed at the high price of used books for children in my area. As I searched for a cost effective way to locate books I ran across this company: www.booksliquidation.com.
They offer wholesale prices on boxes to truckloads of used books (by genre) at very reasonable shipping rates throughout the US and abroad. For instance, at less than $50 a family can receive around 100 good condition kids books including shipping. Most books are like new condition and priced lower than books found at Goodwill or any used book store. The price of books is definitely one factor not talked about when promoting reading. Access to quality books at a price anyone can afford will most assuredly eliminate one barrier in regards to young people's ability to read. Statistics show that the average high-school graduate has(had) a minimum 50 books available to them to read in their homes. Those going on to post elementary education had atleast 100 books in their homes. Books are expensive! Booksliquidation.com is one company that is assisting families in their effort to create a rich at-home reading environment for their children and their personal reference.

i hate books what a waste of trees!! and if you must have books do us all a favour and keep our world sustainable!!!