The idea of turning a page is so far fetched within today society it is heart breaking.
No longer does one go to a library and allow an imagination to create from the pages before them but in visual effects.
Technology is replacing most things like books which hold written accounts of our history, philosophy, and in some cases our religion.
One can easily erase these things on a single computer and effect the whole world but no one can rewrite a book within millions of
homes when there will always be someone who will have the original copy.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Douglas Bradbury
“It’s not books you need, it’s some of the things that once were it books….The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through radios and televisors, but are not.” — Faber
“People didn’t stop reading books because a tyrannical government forced them to stop. They stopped reading books gradually over time as the culture around them grew faster, shallower, intellectually blander, and centered around minor thrills and instant gratification. In such a culture, books became shorter, magazine and newspaper articles became simpler, cartoon pictures and television became more prevalent, and entertainment replaced refection and debate.” - Quote from the Arthur
Where the hell do you live and who are you friends with?
I read at least an hour a day. Sometimes as many as six on a day off. Most of my friends read books. Most of the people on the board read books. Book sales are still pretty massive. The world’s best selling authors (Murakami, Rowling, Meyer etc) are basically superstars in their home countries. I sit on a train in England, in France, in Vietnam, in Thailand: I see people reading books.
In fact, reading is pretty much wholly a modern phenomenon. Not so long ago, only an educated few could read books. Only in the last century did reading take off as a globally popular activity.
Yes, people today do read but most read on nooks, i-pads, and phones. I mean books themselves, holding something in your hand that doesn’t take you to the angry birds website, or facebook.
Everybody reads, from road signs to food labels. E-book sales triple year-over-year, paper books decline in every category.
I have a nook, just downloaded ‘Badiou and Politics’ by Bruno Bosteels, and a random essay by Heidegger on Nietzsche I never came across, as well as a collection of Philo of Alexandria (mostly for the commentary, already had a ‘real’ one in the past), plus the two games Angry Bots and Armageddon Squadron for when I get bored.
I got tired of playing ‘the’ old game I have on this, and rarely read a single book straight through, even if I read everyday… just gotta put it down for a while and move on to a new one. Also pissed about leaving big ass libraries in every city I leave behind full of books I gotta store and try to give away… really good books. Nook makes it easy to carry it all and find my place once again, and if I need to do something else, it’s there on the nook. If I lose it, it’s in the database, and I get it all again with my new one.
Civilization is certainly going to hell in a hand basket.
Oh yeah, I make books- the books you like so much, sometimes as a hobby. Like, in ‘real books’. Their not as impressive once you realize how poorly made most books are made… most publishers don’t give a damn anymore. My nook is the top model they had, with everything in it… better than some book made with a 1200 by 2400 printer on office paper and plumber’s glue to hold it together as many published works increasingly are.
I say we have ourselves a big old fashion book burning.
I love ipads. I really do. I don’t really care about e-readers or other tablets but ipads are definitely an awesome gadget and I wish I had one but I’m already trying to save money to buy the next iphone.
Having said that, nothing beats physical books. I just got 4 books that I ordered from amazon and I was pretty excited to touch them and hold them. It’s just different. In fact, I find myself wanting to buy physical copies of books I have read in my computer.
[Outside] - I guess it’s heartbreaking that the same people who read e-books don’t beat their laundry against rocks by the river. I mean, the clothes still get clean, but where’s the charm in a washing machine?
I am switching to ebooks because of space issues. That’s the charm for me. They don’t clutter space. (although I do miss the feeling of holding a physical book)
I know, out with the old and in with the new.
Its more easier to plug in then zone out. Books age and crumble… However, isn’t that the beauty of it?
Just as a wine ages it gets better like a book. Something that can be pass down to generation after generation.
When my finger tips go across the spine of a book and I open it to see each page has its own thought.
How many others have read this book, what be came of them, what made the author write this, and how does the author relate to these pages.
I am not saying that ebooks are bad nor are they useless… I will just miss the day when the last books are being made and technology take their place. Something that has been happening for century’s is soon to be replaced by flicking lights and easy access.
Love your satire, hard to find one who knows how to use it properly besides Mark Twain.
Did you know, many still do beat their clothes against rocks, my friend who is from mexico carries her family clothes to a watering hole and washes clothes with the women of her village. They trade story’s and teach her many life lessons. I only wish my washing machine could teach me in the lessons of hard work, wisdom, and self efficacy. I mean, the clothes still get clean, but where’s the charm in personal growth?
It is not best that we should all think alike; it is a difference of opinion that makes horse races.
Mark Twain
I still do… this place didn’t come with a washing machine, so I gotta hand scrub and dry my stuff in the air… sometimes at night I just wash what I have on in the shower with shampoo so I can have it dry by morning, and use what dried a day or to before for clothing to wear. This morning, I just got into wet clothes… but everyone knows I am cheap as shit here and don’t care.
I’m surprised people manage to sell drying machines here.
I bought a Kindle nearly a year ago. Couldn’t live without it now. I live in Turkey where it is nigh-on impossible to buy English-language books beyond bestsellers like the Goddamn Twilight trilogy or equally trite arse. Being able to download from the net is in comparison like having the biggest bookshop in the world right on your front lawn.
I did in fact know that. I read about it on a Kindle. They are not the same people who have given up paper books for e-books, however. Many of them do not read much. i read about that on a Nook.
Sure. I get your point. Better to bathe and pee and wash clothes in the river. It’s good for the environment. It promotes environmental growth. Or at least environmental growths.
There will always be those who will miss the past and dread the future.
I guess, I am one of those “cliques” of an old soul who finds more comfort
in things of past then the future.
A man cannot free himself from the past
more easily than he can from his own body. ~André Maurois
Not to worry, [outie] - there are more books in existence than ever before. Between newly-published and used. And used books are easier than ever to find. it used to be more fun sleuthing around used books stores, but now, knowing that you can locate almost any OOP book online in a few seconds… I guess i can wax nostalgic, too.
At least there is a brighter side to every toast even if you have to scrape off on one side. Everything is sooner or later replace but never forgotten.
Glad, their are others who can agree and disagree with this. Common ground is amazing.
I really mean it