Cory Doctorow’s essay, Ebook: Neither E, Nor Books, provides
clarification to the new market of digitalizing books for the consumer public.
The new trend of reading the latest best selling novel on an IPad or any other
E-reader has made heavy 1,000 page novels suddenly light and manageable,
especially for those who often have a tough time reading small font anyways.
Doctorow argues that the controversy surrounding E-Books from the author’s
perspective is not nearly as bad as this form of mass production seems. The
medium of the book, he argues, is really actually arbitrary considering modern
authors often write their own books on computers anyways, while constantly
shifting the formats from pdf and html until they are eventually suited for
print from the editor. E-Books as a form of marketing also allows for the
consumer to be able to check out parts of a book more quickly and efficiently
when browsing through Amazon.com. Doctorow believes that this E-Books trend is
beneficial and more efficient which is why books will become more of an
artifact as E-Books become the next ITunes download.
Although
both of my parents seem to agree that reading an E-book is actually more
convenient to them as they can adjust the font and have access to multiple
books all at the same time, I cringe at the thought of arriving at an age where
producing a physical book is obsolete. In the life of a student, the computer
has become such an integral part of taking notes and subsequently reading
homework assignments that reading a book for pleasure is relaxing simply
because its not on a screen. The medium of an illuminated screen with text has
become such a routine part of any school day whether it’s the Powerpoint
Presentation from the professor, taking notes, doing homework, writing papers,
or checking the news that I find myself staring at a screen for more hours I’m
awake than when I’m not. If all books had to be enjoyed by reading them off my
computer, I would not have any interest or receive nearly the same satisfaction
as opening an actual worn out book. However, I also understand that most of
those other chores of my day could be done without a computer, I consider those
activities of my day to be “work” and so if a computer allows for work to be
more efficient, then it is worth it. When it comes to reading for my own
pleasure, I no longer wish to be working by staring into a screen.
Fortunately, Doctorow does not seem to think the printed, physical book is in any real danger from the eBook. That's why he consistently stresses that the specific "affordances" of the two are "orthogonal" to each other.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you noticed Doctorow's reflection on his own writing process (via a very basic text editor). Indeed, I suspect that most authors these days compose, edit, and deliver their manuscripts electronically, so it would be rather hypocritical for them to then deride or fear the eBook. It might be fun to poll our class members just to see how many people still hand write their notes, versus typing them, and whether or not the context determines whether script or typography wins out (e.g. composing a letter to a friend, journaling, creative writing, brainstorming, draft work, etc.).