The Word Cloud

12 Comments

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  by Chinch 2 years ago

  I don't think the book will ever be dead. I can't imagine curling up in bed with A4 sized printouts. I can see a time when hardback fiction books may disappear though. Chinch
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  by Aonghus Fallon 2 years ago

  I couldn't access that article, so I'm not sure if we're talking about virtual books or the kind Chinchilla mentioned. Either way, I've never been convinced e-books would supplant the ordinary paperback - which is portable enough to carry around in your pocket. The letter was never entirely eclipsed by new technology (not yet anyway!) and I actually think the book stands a better chance because the new technologies are not offering anything substantially 'better', at least, not as far as I can tell, whereas a mobile phone is obviously an easier way of contacting somebody than writing to them.
  
  That said, tastes change, and I know plenty of people (generally mid-thirties and younger) who will read a book off their i-pod while standing in the train.
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  by Annie 2 years ago

  I think they probably had the same kind of discussion obout music at various points in the past. Some people love their iPods, some listen to CDs but there is also still a market for vinyl. So I don't think it's the end of the book, just another channel for writers to get to their audience - a wider audience maybe?.
  
  My personal choice, and I don't see this ever changing, would be a good old fashioned book. I love my iPod, but for me - long live the book.
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  by maryluv 2 years ago

  My taller half (one of the 3000 submariners we have left in the Royal Navy) would love to have the space to carry loads of books when he goes on a 3 month patrol. With the e-book, he can...
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  by mockingbird 2 years ago

  I take your point maryluv - but for ordinary landlubbers like myself 'Long live the book'.
  
  I have approx 1000 (probably more) in my 'library' and would love to extend the collection given the vital factors of space and money! A book wins everytime for me because of portability, readability in the bath, and I find them much easier on the eyes.
  
  If I read an old book thats been put onto Google Books I find my eyes tire easily after about 30 or more pages - with a book I can read for hours and hours and hours.....
  
  And I also love going into houses and looking at bookshelves; choices of book tell so much about a person, don't they? And I love old libraries, and second hand bookshops and bookstalls; such a sense of history - such a taste of the past. Long live the book!
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  by Pride.James 2 years ago

  I'd rather have a love letter than an e-mail.
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  by Kat 2 years ago

  It will be a sad day indeed when books no longer exist. There's something wonderful about holding a book in your hands, turning the pages, eager to read what happens next. Some books are gorgeous to look at, with lovely covers, and some books are a sheer joy to own; like proof copies and signed copies or first editions or antique books.
  
  Please help keep the book well and truly alive!
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  by Joey 2 years ago

  E-books have their uses true but there's nothing like the smell of a new book. We all know it. It's like trees and nutmeg. Gorgeous.
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  by PhilipLeeMoore 2 years ago

  I got a publishing deal in the USA last year on my romance novel Destination love in e-book format, it's sold 5 copies. I then got a publishing deal in the UK on the same book launched in paperback last week under the title Eternal Wish had pre-sales orders of 200 copies! I won't bother with e-book again, people want to hold something in their hands and feel a book. most people I talk to hate e-books, so do I now. Phil
  www.philiplmoore.com
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  by Amy Bee 2 years ago

  The book can never be dead. First of all, it goes against my happiness and therefore it is not allowed. Secondly, as far as I am concerned there's nothing better than turning over those glorious pages so crammed with adventure and excitement. I can lose myself in a book, not registering that I'm reading words, not realising that I'm turning pages. There's no smooth conjunction on a screen. It's too jerky and requires too much interruption. Plus reading things off a screen gives me headache :P
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  by Gilou 2 years ago

  So long as eyesight deteriorates with age, so long as cream paper is soothing and plastic is hard, so long as paid employment depends on IT... so long the book will live.
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  by claraw 1 year ago

  Definetly not dead. E-books can be cheaper then normal books; if it was a matter of price, this deal would have been done with. Yet, what I noticed in my degree dissertation over the matter, is that the majority of the market attending bookshops likes to go to the books(specially now where you can sit and drink a coffee, relax and entertain yourself while picking a book). In many cases, it became an entertainment motive. E-books striked but then the bookshops striked back in a very clever move, transforming their ambiance.
  I honestly hope the book never dies. I persoanlly hate e-books.