I know, I've heard your argument before and it's a valid one. I'm a bleeding-heart rose-coloured-glasses humanist and to me books are sacred objects. I really WANT to believe that they have a widespread intrinsic value to people besides me.
However, there is a pragmatic argument for books vs. ereaders. Technology breaks. If you bust your Kindle, no more ebooks for you. A physical book, if treated properly, can have a longer lifespan than a human being (I own books that are over 200 years old and mass-market paperbacks from the 1930s and 1940s that are still in readable condition.) To an extent, damage to a book can be repaired; covers can be taped and pages re-glued. Few users can repair their own computers or ereaders.
I require all my students, when doing research, to consult a certain number of non-electronic sources. Why? Because if you rely on the internet or online databases for information, what will you do if your computer breaks or the internet goes down? Yet if you know how to use a library and find a book on your topic, you won't be in trouble. Same logic. Digital information and sources essentially lack the permanence of physical records, like books. If that asteroid you mentioned below ever does hit us (assuming there are any survivors) everyone's Kindles and laptops will be useless. There will be no movies or television. No Wikipedia to tell us how to hook up an electric generator? What's left? Books might even become the new currency of the post-apocalyptic society....*hmmm...story idea forming...*
(PS: You just finished "The Stand" - remember how in Boulder everyone became widely interested in the library for entertainment and practical information both?)
no subject
I know, I've heard your argument before and it's a valid one. I'm a bleeding-heart rose-coloured-glasses humanist and to me books are sacred objects. I really WANT to believe that they have a widespread intrinsic value to people besides me.
However, there is a pragmatic argument for books vs. ereaders. Technology breaks. If you bust your Kindle, no more ebooks for you. A physical book, if treated properly, can have a longer lifespan than a human being (I own books that are over 200 years old and mass-market paperbacks from the 1930s and 1940s that are still in readable condition.) To an extent, damage to a book can be repaired; covers can be taped and pages re-glued. Few users can repair their own computers or ereaders.
I require all my students, when doing research, to consult a certain number of non-electronic sources. Why? Because if you rely on the internet or online databases for information, what will you do if your computer breaks or the internet goes down? Yet if you know how to use a library and find a book on your topic, you won't be in trouble. Same logic. Digital information and sources essentially lack the permanence of physical records, like books. If that asteroid you mentioned below ever does hit us (assuming there are any survivors) everyone's Kindles and laptops will be useless. There will be no movies or television. No Wikipedia to tell us how to hook up an electric generator? What's left? Books might even become the new currency of the post-apocalyptic society....*hmmm...story idea forming...*
(PS: You just finished "The Stand" - remember how in Boulder everyone became widely interested in the library for entertainment and practical information both?)