What Digital Apocalype? Why Print Isn't Dead...

[Richard Sutton]

Here's an interesting article from The Indie Reader which addresses some questions I'd been having lately about the future of print and a few others...

 

[Carol Rose]

Great stuff, Richard. Print is far from dead.

 

[Jennifer Stone]

You'll always have the purists that prefer books, cds, dvds and the like. Those that prefer to hold the actual item in their hand. Ther.e'll always be a market for analogue devices, even if it's only a nostalgic value

 

[Meerkat]

Print will never be dead for me. I like physical everything. For example, I didn't grow up with records, but I got myself a record player in college and prefer to buy music on vinyl. I don't know why. I think I like tangible things.

And I think we should bring mixtapes back. I do remember those.

 

[Meerkat]

I *wish* we had an independent bookstore in my area. All we have is a Barnes & Noble.

There is one in my husband's hometown, which is an hour and a half away, and each time we visit his family, we go there. I have to restrain myself and set a dollar limit on how much I can spend.

 

[Mark Odell]

Weird but I'm sort of with Giles on this one. Books have a smell and a depth. I'll never stop reading physical books for that reason.

 

[James Marinero]

Thanks for that. I for one do not enjoy reading digital books. What happens when schools finish with hard copy? How will the young even know about the printed word?

 

[AgentPete]

I had a discussion about this with the boss of one of the world’s biggest publishing houses a few days ago. They are clearly moving their emphasis back to physical. The perception is that digital has peaked, and physical is a more resilient store of value than slippery downloads.

 

[Jason Byrne]

I had a discussion about this with the boss of one of the world’s biggest publishing houses a few days ago. They are clearly moving their emphasis back to physical. The perception is that digital has peaked, and physical is a more resilient store of value than slippery downloads.

Perfect! I'll just keep on riding this long-haul train and get off where I had originally planned.

 

[Mark Odell]

I had a discussion about this with the boss of one of the world’s biggest publishing houses a few days ago. They are clearly moving their emphasis back to physical. The perception is that digital has peaked, and physical is a more resilient store of value than slippery downloads.

The only problem is that digital download is the way most indie authors can self publish without spending a fortune. My short stories do need editing but it is a good way of getting your work into the domain; at the moment I just need to publish a short story collection and my pockets are utterly empty to pay for physical printed copies. It's a real contradiction. I love physical books but digital is the way to go for 'just starting' authors or for short stories. I had one company say they liked my story though 'it wasn't right for them' but also that it simply wasn't long enough. Digital solves that problem.

There is a war in my mind! Argh.

 

[Richard Sutton]

You'll always have the purists that prefer books, cds, dvds and the like. Those that prefer to hold the actual item in their hand. Ther.e'll always be a market for analogue devices, even if it's only a nostalgic value

Try taking a digital book on a camping or hiking trip and see how well it does off the grid.
Sometimes, analogue is just what the doctor ordered.

 

[Brian Clegg]

Try taking a digital book on a camping or hiking trip and see how well it does off the grid.
Sometimes, analogue is just what the doctor ordered.

It certainly is, Richard.

I don't know why there's this pressure to be in one camp or the other. As an author, I love both physical books and ebooks. My physical books are much more exciting to have published - I even see them in bookshops sometimes - but I also am very happy when someone buys an ebook, a) because I typically get more royalties and b) because if they read it, I'm happy whatever the medium.

As a reader, I most enjoy reading physical books. At least half the books I buy are physical, all the presents I get as books are, and as I have a popular science book blog I also get sent two or three physical books a week in the hope they'll go on the review pile. Excellent stuff. But if all I want a book for is to do some research, and it's cheaper on Kindle, I'll go Kindle. Or, for that matter, as has happened several times, if I'm stuck in a hotel with nothing to read I can Kindle up something excellent at any time. And that's great too.

So can't we just embrace the wonder of both and not cheer when physical books 'win' back against ebooks or whatever?

 

[Jason Byrne]

It certainly is, Richard.

I don't know why there's this pressure to be in one camp or the other. As an author, I love both physical books and ebooks. My physical books are much more exciting to have published - I even see them in bookshops sometimes - but I also am very happy when someone buys an ebook, a) because I typically get more royalties and b) because if they read it, I'm happy whatever the medium.

As a reader, I most enjoy reading physical books. At least half the books I buy are physical, all the presents I get as books are, and as I have a popular science book blog I also get sent two or three physical books a week in the hope they'll go on the review pile. Excellent stuff. But if all I want a book for is to do some research, and it's cheaper on Kindle, I'll go Kindle. Or, for that matter, as has happened several times, if I'm stuck in a hotel with nothing to read I can Kindle up something excellent at any time. And that's great too.

So can't we just embrace the wonder of both and not cheer when physical books 'win' back against ebooks or whatever?

Man's got a point...