Sony has announced a new reader – a device on which you can read books and other content. This new device is lighter, more stylish and has a touch screen for easier reading. Check our Forbes for the story. Borders will sell this new device in the US. There is a lesson here for newsagents – a bookshop selling devices which could make print obsolete in the book category.
I cannot for one fathom these things. I am in the right age bracket for this technology but i cannot ever imagine replacing the feel and comfort of a printed book for this device. I have also taught my children the love of books and hope they never lose it.
Stephen I agree. I want to feel the page, fold it, write on it or even tear it out. I tried to buy the Amazon Kindle to play but they will not ship it to Australia. I am traveling soon and will buy one of these devices so I at least have some personal experience.
mark
Until these things are water proof print is safe. Who cares if a paper is soaking wet? But an expensive doova is another story.
We’ll have to wait and see how the tech vs print works out seeing these days the carbon footprint measurement is changing people’s thoughts on a lot of things ie Fiji water vs Mt Franklin – Fiji water has a huge footprint due to the fuel spent on shipping. Nice bottle though, do you see what I mean?
As many of us remember when personal computers were being introduced into the work place and homes in the 80’s the most prominent statement at the time was something like this ” we are moving into a paperless society”
A magnificent spin in hindsight as it encouraged many to graduate / engage / frigten people to use / buy personal computers. I think I can commit to fact that we are using more paper today than when we were not using personal computers.
What ever device people use in the future to read for example newspapers will only appeal to some and they will plug it into a printer and read the news on a piece of paper, some people currently use the internet now source to source their news however they still buy the newspaper on the way to work.
Without going to deep, the world, the economies and all of the rhetoric that goes with it depends on people of all ages, classes, personalities and cultures being able to source news, advertisements, classifieds etc. It makes the world go round!
I am of the opinion that we will have newspapers for a long time, our two main publishes must realise this however their is no doubt they see a future for their news to be accessed on them. I read a piece in Crikey and the journalist to me seemed to be fanatical about them and seemed to have his own agenda and it sounds like it will happen tommorrow, however he was only taking into account one certain class of people which I felt way to pompous.
Time will tell I guess as we look back in 20 years like we look back today with the introduction of the personal computers.
After all that spill I also like the feel of the newspaper, I want to read my news from a newspaper.
I don’t mind reading news from the internet. It’s less censored, more questionable and much faster than print. and it’s free.
but books… i mean, kindle did get my attention. so much easier to have all books on a single device..but there’s something about actually owning the physical product.
i’m an avid reader and i’m aiming to build my own personal library in the future. i’d prefer to see shelves of books instead of shelves of devices.
People certainly have an affection for the printed products, and there are many valid reasons for this, but one factor shouldn’t be discounted. What if people are made to feel ashamed of buying paper printed product in the same way they have been made to feel ashamed for using plastic bags? An environmental attack on printed matter could be harmful to newsagents. Once upon a time reassurances about recycling programs were enough, but modern focus is on energy expenditure and carbon footprints. Magazines and newspapers are environmentally inefficient. They may be demonised for this.
The recycling bin idea from a previous post is a clever pre-emptive step.
While I see recurring news based print (ie. magazies and newspapes) moving to online-only formats in the future, i’m just not so sure about books.
At some point the viabilty of print media will force it online – the trends are there and they are only growing at an increasing rate. But books may be a different story. They aren’t time-dependant throw-away products like newspapers and magazines.
The demand for online media stems from the need to be “connected” and have “up-to-date information” whenever and wherever people want it. That demand/need isn’t there with books.
And for the record I don’t read any newspapers or magazines. I get all my content online – and for free.
Cameron- A really good post.
Jarryd, another point of view which is good to read and of course I understand totally.Their will be people on both sides of fence on this post.
I want to share a small tale, I was among many who were sitting in an office, the power went out for a good half day. The office minds were in a state of some sort of shock, no one new what to do as there work was based 98% on the reliance of computers. Still remeber the day as it was yesterday.
when e-books are water- and sand-proof, i will happily buy one, download the classics from the Gutenberg project and read and read and read!
I can’t seem to get into reading books from a screen. I’ve tried reading ebooks on my pc, psp, phone and ipod but…it’s not the same. Holding a small object for hours isn’t fun, and many portable devices suffer poorly in direct sunlight, not to mention headaches gotten from staring at screens for extended periods of time.
I wouldn’t want a story to be interrupted just because the screen is giving me a headache.
(Read 6th of Harry Potter in one sitting, it took me about half that time to read 2 chapters on a screen.)