As Malcolm Gladwell says…
I see a tipping point on the horizon.
My husband is thrilled with the Kindle I gave him for Christmas. He holds it in his hand with reverence, not so much because he’s enthralled with a piece of technology, but rather because of what the technology can do. I’ve heard him say repeatedly - I can upload an entire library into this thing!
It occurs to me that once we all, the human race, that is, develop the ability to travel to other worlds, we’ll want to take our written word with us so of course we’ll download as much as we can into tiny devices. Not only will we take whatever we believe to be important at the time, we’ll take our written history with us.
Yes, I believe ebooks have reached a tipping point and their sales will continue to rise for several reasons. First, the technology is very cool. Second, printed books are expensive to produce and purchase and people have far less expendable income than they used to. And third, it makes more environmental sense to read a book on an electronic reader.
Does that mean I won’t miss books or that I think books will disappear altogether? I don’t believe books will disappear altogether, but if they did, I would miss them terribly. Aside from my family, books are the love of my life. Always have been. This five minute article from NPR is well worth listening to.
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January 2nd, 2010 at 11:48 am
This was such a great post! I agree that a certain resistance point has been passed. Several years ago people treated ebooks with second-class status at best. Now its a green, high-tech choice with quality offerings that make a lot of sense. Especially good for us e-writers!!
XXOO Kat
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:12 pm
I agree. I do think we’ve reached a tipping point and the publishing industry will be sliding our way. The feel of a book in my hand is amazing - the printed word is almost holy to me, but our children are a technologically savvy generation and they will force this change. I think we either shit or get off the pot, pardon my French!