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Is this the end for books ?? I think its great !

Isn't there a book forum?

No, it's not the end for books.

Originally posted by coolmovies
Is this the end for books ?? I think its great !

No, it's not the end for books.


The iPad on the other hand....

It will certainly cut into the physical book market, for sure.



However, there will always remain a small market for hard copy books.

Originally posted by dadudemon
It will certainly cut into the physical book market, for sure.



However, there will always remain a small market for hard copy books. This I'm not so sure about. Digital books are win/win for everyone. Cheaper to produce, larger profit margins for publishers. Good for the consumers because they can get their books on demand.

Books will eventually go the same way all outdated formats go. Granted the transition may take longer with books because the purists will be against it... but they will eventually die, and the younger breed will naturally be attracted to the better format.


Although I don't think the Kindle will be the thing to put the nail in the coffin.

I'll stick with hard copy books.

Originally posted by King of Anglia
Like what outdated formats? Vinyl? Still bought by millions, myself included. CDs? Bought by even more. Cassettes? We all thought we'd seen the back of them, now shit loads of bands are having thier first releases put out on cassette and there are a lot of record labels that specialise in them.

The one thing that this will do is hopefully drive down the price of hardback books, they're ridiculously expensive. Digital books will certainly make a dent in the market, but I don't believe that it will destroy it. Certainly not within our lifetime, anyway. If you think that those audio formats are going to last forever I would have to disagree. People like Vinyl for nostalgia, that's it. Cassette has been dying for years... CD sales have also peaked.

I didn't say that it was going to happen soon, just eventually. Look at Newspapers, they'll be gone in no time. The New York Times have already started the transition online, with a paid subscription to their online newspaper.

Originally posted by King of Anglia
People do not just like vinyl for nostalgia. As someone who has collected it for years I can tell you there's a lot more to it than that. There's so much on vinyl that you won't find online or anywhere else, it has a warmth that can't be compared to and overall it just sounds better. Then there's also all the DJs that use and will always use vinyl and CDs. Serious music fans will always exist and a lot of them will always want to physically own the music, the same goes for books.

I'm with you on cassettes, but anyone who's been keeping their eye on stuff like the chillwave scene will know that they have had a huge re-emergence over the past few years.

To compare newspapers with books seems to me to be slightly understating the difference between books and a the daily news. I've never heard of someone regularly rereading a newspaper. The feelings you are describing is NOSTALGIA, the very line "As someone who has collected it for years I can tell you there's a lot more to it than that." ... As for DJs they're switching all the time to digital, they used vinyl simply because software wasn't capable of creating the mixes that they can now.

Young music fans have no connection with vinyl, other than their parents... Eventually they will be the parents and their children won't give a damn about the dried up format. The same will happen with CDs.

As for your cassettes assessment, no one has been keeping in an eye on the "chillwave scene", because it's simply not big enough scene to count as example of re-emergence. A handful of people using it doesn't count for anything.

I was using Newspapers as another example of a hard medium being beaten by it's digital equivalent.



Don't forget video formats.... Digital will overtake there also.

iPad would be great for books, but even better for comic books...however, I would not spend that much money for it.

I hate reading books on a screen. I much prefer the real thing.

Phonograph cylinders seem pretty dead. VHS seem to die out. Oh and this thing seems super dead:

http://www.01datarecovery.com/Images/old-floppy.jpg

Books, still have advantages in some ways over their digital format, but I agree with spooony, once they don't have a real advantage, and the newer generations didn't grow up with them they will lose a lot in popularity, perhaps they'll still be liked by certain communities, but they will likely not be an important part of human culture anymore.

Originally posted by LanceWindu
iPad would be great for books, but even better for comic books...however, I would not spend that much money for it.

I would if I had it.

Though I guess it's good I don't, perhaps the WePad or the Interpad or one of the new Android ones will be a better match once I have money.

Originally posted by LanceWindu
iPad would be great for books, but even better for comic books...however, I would not spend that much money for it. And only 22 years after Big.

I think what we can take away from this thread, what the main point of this thread, what the thesis statement of this thread, etc...

Todays music sucks.

Originally posted by Ax3l
I think what we can take away from this thread, what the main point of this thread, what the thesis statement of this thread, etc...

Todays music sucks.

You don't really think that though...

I want a Kindle (or other ebook reader), I would love an ebook reader...with the amount I read, it would be so very convenient. Just put that in my purse instead of carrying books around, and when travelling I wouldn't have to worry about running out of reading material so quickly.

On the other hand, I highly doubt actual books are going to phase out anytime soon. It isn't exactly comparable to DVD replacing VHS, at all.



That thought makes me sad.

Yeah, I'd love to have one too. I plan on getting one in a couple of months. It'll make taking books on holiday so much better as I won't have to be limited to ten books and I won't have to read the bad ones.

Originally posted by dadudemon
What I said was correct.


Eventually the market will reach "digital" saturation but there will still be those that like the "hands on".


Unless you propose we breed out the kinesthetic learners from the human species?




This.


I'm of the opinion that, eventually, most people will interface with all data, directly to their brain. This will allow people to have virtual physical books...but it would be completely digital.


That format will quickly be replaced with brain downloads and you'll download and entire book within seconds, never actually reading it.

Lol, I am not sure about that, Science Fiction tends to overstate the speed of progress, I could imagine it in the further future though. Not that it's impossible.


And I would not get an eBook reader, e-Ink seems like a huge, expensive waste of everyone's time. I'd love to have a tablet PC though, to watch video, read books, read comics, read my google reader, browse the internet, and have a couple of time waster games.

Tablet PCs have never really appealed to me... I can't think of anything I'd like to use it for. I don't think I'd watch videos on it... Unless there is a stand... but then you might as well just have a laptop... same goes for everything really. I think I'd just prefer to lug around the extra weight of a laptop because it can do so much more.

Videos and games are something I can go without for a few weeks at a time. I get my own and work emails sent to my phone, so there's no worry with that. Books are different for me though, I feel like I need them much more than all that other stuff.

But you can read books on tablet PCs...

I have a Netbook and even that I find too bothersome to take around, I love the tablet form factor, really.

I can browse the internet on my phone, if I don't have my laptop or don't have internet access and really cannot wait, I don't really watch videos online much at all, and I've got a DS and a PSP for games. I'd rather have an ebook reader than a tablet PC, personally.

It would give me headaches looking at a backlit screen for long lengths of time though. What's the battery life like on them?

Originally posted by Peach
I can browse the internet on my phone, if I don't have my laptop or don't have internet access and really cannot wait, I don't really watch videos online much at all, and I've got a DS and a PSP for games. I'd rather have an ebook reader than a tablet PC, personally. I don't understand this reasoning at all, but I suppose it's what Amazon is gambling at. I think they'll lose in the long run of course.

I can browse on my phone, too, but come on that's not a comparison to a large screen.

I don't know for me it would be perfect to be able to browse the interent well, or watch something, especially for like long journeys it would be perfect, but I'd probably use it on the couch or in bed, too. Laptops really are way too immobile for my taste lately.

Originally posted by King of Anglia
It would give me headaches looking at a backlit screen for long lengths of time though. What's the battery life like on them?

Depends of course, the iPad claims about 10 hours, I believe.

I look at computer screen up to 14 hours a day, so it's not a problem for me, I can understand if it is a problem for some people I suppose it would be better for them to get an e-Ink screen.

Originally posted by Bardock42
But you can read books on tablet PCs...

I have a Netbook and even that I find too bothersome to take around, I love the tablet form factor, really. You can also read books on paper... the format isn't dead yet.

I get that some people like tablet PCs.... but touch screen can suck my balls to be honest.

I personally wasn't comparing tablet PCs to ereaders though... I was saying I can do without either... as they are things that I would no doubt use once and then it would gather dust.

I don't think the keyboard and mouse are going to go anywhere soon... and that's all I'm concerned about... and I can put off the inevitable hand-held touch screens for as long as possible,