Is the Kindle killing the book as we know it?

[Hannah "Goatherder" Ermi]

People, let's be honest. All of us are addicted to electronics. Well, maybe not addicted, but at least commited. And since all of you reading this are nerdfighters, or at least on this website, no doubt you like to read books or have read a book or at least know what a book is. Yes, a book. With pages and ink writing and a spine ripe for cracking. I love books. I love the weight of a book in your hands and the smell of new paper in a brand new books. I know every single one of you people out there who have read books again and again and again and fall in love with characters and the plot each time you read it know what I'm talking about.

 

Which is exactly why the Kindle worries me. Ever since stories have been written, they have been written on paper. And even if they are written on a computer, books are published in book form first and foremost. The Kindle comes along and completely interupts the process. We live in a world where everyone wants everything now and faster. We have fast food, microwaves, OnDemand television, and now, the Kindle, which allows, at the push of a few buttons, to download any books you want for a nominal fee a month.

 

With the Kindle, the effects can potentially wipe out many markets and jobs. If everyone had and used a Kindle instead of books, we would no longer have jobs for people who actually print and put together the books. We would no longer have libraries or stores like Borders and Barnes & Noble because people wouldn't have to buy or check out books anymore.

 

It's like how iPods have made CD players and tape players die out. Video cassettes were killed off by DVDs, which are on their way to being outed by Blu-Ray discs. Sit-Down dinners have been erased by TV Dinners.

 

I'm not saying I'm against change. I feel that change, in certain places, is a good thing. But some things don't need to be improved and books are one of those things. This is my opinion. C'mon Nerdfighters! What do you think of the Kindle?

[Vertigo_One [Ops Mod]]

yes, but the kindle i was issued at school shattered and broke the first day i got it. what if you drop your kindle, and it breaks? you're not going to get your money back for all your books that you bought on there either.

Actually, you are. Amazon keeps record of all the books you download so you can re-download them at no charge.

[Kenny]

Not to mention the fact that you can easily back them all up on your computer.

[Lori S.]

I think it will definitely make moving a whole lot easier for book lovers. :)

I don't know, I used to be very much opposed to e-books, but the more I think about it, the more I think it might be the right direction to move in. I certainly think it would be very useful on campuses. Rather than lugging around like 60 pounds of textbook, students can just have one e-reader with all of their textbooks and course readings.

Plus, maybe when the printing press came out, people were like, "But what about the scribes? All the scribes are going to be put out of work." I tend to think that if things moved entirely to e-books, there'd be new jobs that would open up to replace the ones lost. And it would probably be quite a long transition before paper books were entirely phased out, if that ever happened at all.

I have requested a Kindle for my birthday in November and my husband has assured me I will be getting one, so I'll have a more informed opinion then. ;)

[Beingawesomeisafulltimejob]

No, but technologies evolve, the book was this amazing thing when it first came out and now we have something amazing and new, there are so many things we can do with this and people only see it as killing books. I don't, I see it as just change, for the better of course.

[KinseyReed]

I asked my English Teacher about this and she replied "There's nothing in the world like curling up with a good book next to a fire", with the kindle.....ehhh, you get the stories but not the imagination. I don't know about you but when I read I get into this mode where I can SEE the story and it's better than any movie ever made no matter the book. Although Im not FOR it I'm not completely against it. See, the only advantage (that my brain can think of right know) is that, if you like to read, you have A LOT of books, and most of the time.... not enough space. Where I live we don't have a book exchange so thats not an option. But with the Kindle you can have as many books you can fit on there and not take up space. I am definitly NOT going to get one but there are some perks.

[Beingawesomeisafulltimejob]

I don't know how people can say that they don't get into it, the same info is on the page nothing has changed except for the way you are getting the information and even that difference is a small one.

[Ellen Glass]

If you talk to any major national bookstore chain, the answer is Yes.

I work for one of those major national bookstore chains (that shall remain nameless), and we are in the process of downsizing the paper book market so the reject books can be sacrificed on the altar of Kindle, Nook, and so on. According to the bookselling industry, the book in its physical form is "history," and the books we're getting rid of now are "never coming back." Bookstores will become more like airport bookstores, selling only what's new, what's hot, and what makes the most money.

The bookselling industry believes it can single-handedly supplant the paper book with e-books, and they're trying their best to make that happen as soon as possible. Bookstores you might walk into will now be selling noticeably fewer paper books, and you'll see an increase in things like video games, board games, and other gift merchandise. The e-reader is emptying the bookshelves already, and I don't think most people even realize it's happening.

As a writer, going to work every day is a depressing and discouraging task. It's not just the future of the paper book that's at stake here, it's the future of the written word. What will happen to the novel when it no longer exists physically? How will new writers ever be recognized if their work isn't on the shelf for people to pick up and look at? In becoming digital, will the act of reading change? Will it carry less significance without the tactile experience? While the convenience and paper- and space-saving aspects of the e-book are attractive, what will it cost the people who write and produce the material? Will fewer new books be published? Will more books be published, thus clogging the market?

These are questions that don't seem to matter at all to the bookselling industry. What matters to them is that the e-reader is currently lining their pockets faster than paper books, and they want more. When the written word takes a backseat to money, what does that mean for the world? The arrogance, greed, and foolishness of the bookselling industry astounds and disturbs me. Human beings have been writing things down for thousands of years, and bookstores are ready and willing to cripple or destroy that particular human tradition, and they're doing it without batting an eyelash.

My advice to you is, if you want a physical book to hold in your hands, buy paper books while you still can, because I honestly have no idea how long it will be before the bookstores downsize again and again until all the books are gone.

[ashley nottelling]

sad....=( but now i want to go on a shopping spree

[Contradiction]

It's not a sign of the apocalypse. Lighten up.

[Vertigo_One [Ops Mod]]

How will new writers ever be recognized if their work isn't on the shelf for people to pick up and look at?

The same way indie writers are recognised and discovered now. Blogs and review websites.

These are questions that don't seem to matter at all to the bookselling industry. What matters to them is that the e-reader is currently lining their pockets faster than paper books, and they want more. When the written word takes a backseat to money, what does that mean for the world?

Erm...what evidence, if any, do you have that books written specificly for the Kindle etc will nessecarly be worse than those written for paper?

[Scott Callas]

More efficient and convenient forms of media will always make their predecessors outdated.

Oh no. People who raze forests for a living will lose their jobs. How about we find a more modern job that doesn't, you know, require decimating ecosystems to support? Computers have already saved untold amounts of paper with e-mail and the like. Reading books on electronic devices is just another step in source reduction. Bring on the Kindle. It's the same book, the same words, but it requires a lot less physical resources to be consumed in order to create.

[Kenny]

You do realize that eliminating the paper industry would just lead to an end of tree farms, which is where the majority of material for making paper comes from (the rest? from recycling), right? Feel free to try and save the forests, but try and do it in a way that, you know, actually saves the forests.