Paper books to ebooks: “Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated” or 5 reasons eBooks suck
Story goes that Mark Twain once read his own obituary and stated, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” (Although I like the bastardized quote in the title better…) Same can be said for paper books.
I remember several years ago article after article saying how paper would be rendered obsolete. Remember the paperless office? That was a joke. I worked for a client who once made me print out and file every email I had in my inbox and sent folder. Hilarious! However, I’ve heard from friends that they’ve had to do the exact same thing. I shake my head at such things but so it goes. Anyway, the same was said as online retailers, or eTailers (*snort chuckle* I love made up words), were heralding eBooks. Think of the fabulous things you can do with an eBook? You can read it on your PC, your Blackberry, PDA, your Dick Tracy Watch, the head of a digital pin…All in all it will kill the paper book.
Well it sure looks like paper books are doing fine thank you. Paper book retailers are struggling at the moment, as all retailers are, but they certainly haven’t gone away and the sales of eBooks, while not bad, have not overtaken or killed paper books by a long shot. Even books that should be purchased as eBooks - like O’Reilly books on coding and books about Usability - are better in paper.
So with that in mind, here are the 5 reasons I think eBooks suck:
5) Can’t lay in bed with an eBook.
Who wants to curl up with a cup of tea and your PDA or laptop? Ever tried scrolling or paging while laying on your stomach or side in bed? I’m getting a cramp thinking of it.
4) My eyes! My eyes!
Talk about a headache…staring at a tiny screen for hours at a time? Sheesh.
3) eBooks look terrible on a coffee table and are lousy coasters.
Think of all the things paper books do that aren’t about reading. They double as coasters for your drink, press flowers, look good on your bookshelf. Use my laptop as a coaster or to squash a bug and you will see me angry…you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry. It’s also hard to pick up someone’s PDA and look at the pictures of gardening while waiting for them to get out of the bathroom.
2) Paper books are status symbols, whether it’s read or not.
Laying about the house a book says “I am reading this and I’m important.” The cover alone says something about you and what you find important. Now I’ve never read a book by Lee Ioccoca but own one
1) Paper feels good.
Face it, paper is tactile and we like touching stuff and fidling with stuff. Holding a book, putting a book mark in the pages, creasing the binding, even smelling the ink. No matter what happens, there is comfort in touching stuff. We could probably manufacture some kind of Thinsulate body warmer made of a polymer, but would it replace Grandma’s knitted afghan? Same with paper books. It’s also terribly hard (and probably illegal) to file share an eBook. Not so with paper books. In fact, lending a book helps build that common bond important to any friendship.
Books are the comfort food of knowledge. And I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
I think points 5 & 4 can be fixed, but I think you’re dead-on with point #2; law offices and doctor’s home dens are full of packed bookshelves, just as John Cusack’s character in HIgh Fidelity had yards and yards of LP records in his house.
That’s probably a reasonable parallel to draw: at some point the technology became easy enough to use and of a high enough quality that most everyone transitioned over from LPs to digital audio. Sure, magnetic tape and CDs were interim steps, but it sure didn’t take long for the transition to take place. Having a rack of LPs in your house indicates that you are now of the tiny ranks consisting of DJs and old-school vinyl obsessives. And that includes the diminishing scale of album art, which has been lost in the transition, too.
I think we’re a few years away from the same thing happening with printed works, but I think it’s inevitable. There may forever be high-quality print materials in our lives, but I think mass market paperbacks will be replaced by something else in the near future.
We’ll have to disagree on this. I think there are certain things in life that won’t be taken away. Cotton clothing, paper books, cheese…
Seriously though, in some ways LPs and books are the same, as the medium is part of the experience. In music, the liner notes and art work on an album while listening add to it…but if you close your eyes, the music is what matters. While the same argument could be made for books - it’s only the words and ideas, no matter how they’re delivered, that matter.
I dunno…a CD is more effective at delivering music. But paper is either equal or more effective at delivering a book. eBooks will have to become far better than paper (or something similar) to replace them and I don’t see that happening soon.
Maybe that ePaper will be the answer? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_paper
ebook-scene…
Watch out for fresh articles on this matter….