The rain started sometime during the night and has continued all day. I like rainy days when I'm at work, because I'm actually able to get something done for a change. The incessant phone calls get a bit annoying, but what can you do? The sad part is that this photo wasn't taken in black and white. It really is that dismal outside.
I've read a few articles today reporting on a Mr. Len Riggio's speech to the AAP. For those not in the know, Uncle Lenny is the head honcho over at Barnes &Noble, Inc. While obviously he's going to say glowing things about his company, I liked the excited way in which he talked about ebooks. Ebooks really are so new that no one's really figured out how to use them to their full potential just yet. Since Epubs especially are just zipped up html files, the opportunities for content are almost endless.
I can't wait until some geniuses start creating interactive books, with illustrations, video, quick linking and everything. Just imagine how awesome thrillers and mysteries could be if the reader could see and hear the book, as well as read it. Children's books like the 39 Clues series or Patrick Carmen's series would be amazing as interactive reads for kids. Publishers could offer so much more content for each book, almost like DVD extras. Got an interview with an author? It's no longer sequestered on the publisher's website. Just imagine it--writer's commentary on your favorite books!
One of the things publishers are banking on is the social networking possibilities as far as reading is concerned, especially when it comes to kids and teens. Social networking is free publicity for content providers. Personally I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I almost agree with Andrei Codrescu's view that social networking could ruin the reading experience (I'm more concerned about spoilers), but I'm not going to rant about it like a freaking lunatic like him.
As I said before, I think this is an exciting time for books in that, just like during the mass market revolution, more and more titles are becoming available because of ebooks. I imagine it's a thrilling and terrifying time for publishers as everyone scrambles to adapt, but I'm not afraid the book industry will just implode. People will keep reading. People have always read and will always do so. Even during the Dark Ages when literacy levels were almost negligible and books were generally the most expensive item in a house (if not more expensive than the house itself), people still made, bought and presumably read books. I'm not even worried about physical books disappearing. If anything, people will still want to read a physical book for novelty's sake (Wow, I didn't notice that pun at first...). Now I do think the materials that physical books are made of will eventually change, but they'll still exist.
Since the dawn of time, human beings have made art and physical books are a work of art. Unless they're 'written' by James Patterson.
- Heather
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