I’ve been thinking a lot about the e-reader since I first heard the presentation for the class, and a couple things keep bubbling up in my mind as I dwell on e-books. I honestly hardly ever gave them a second though before, but now I get weirdly excited about them. There is something amazing about the promise of the dissemination of knowledge that electronics like the Kindle possess; if they can make laptops that are less than $200, imagine if cheap Kindles were made available across the world to children and adults filled with the great books. What would that mean for literacy? Not having to buy 5 or 6 text books for a single student would certainly go a long way towards making education affordable for schools. I also have to catch myself when I think the internet is worldwide. It has the potential to be, sure, but it is by no means worldwide yet. Couldn’t the Kindle be the bridge, a sort of temporary replacement for the internet? Of course, that assumes they become far cheaper than they currently are. But, still. Potential.
However, I try to imagine myself reading one and honestly I have trouble. Just as I hate reading books on the Gutenberg Project, I can’t imagine reading War and Peace or Infinite Jest on an iPad. Nor can I see myself furiously studying for a test from a small screen. There is no physical last page to turn, so where is the sense of accomplishment when you finish a 10 pound behemoth? But then, doesn’t that reduce the worth of the writing if you tie the physicality of the book to it? It makes me question just how valuable the paper book is, and I simply can’t think of a logical reason for my obsession with having a two story library packed to the brim with gilt leather-bound books, especially compared to that entire collection in the palm of my hand.
Just some stuff I’ve been tossing around.
-Andrew
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One problem-- and it isn't an insurmountable one-- I see with kindles being given out cheaply in impoverished places is that these impoverished places would have to have electricity. One major problem with kindles, in my opinion, is that they need a power source. This isn't as much of an inconvenience as it would have been ten years ago-- everyone's used to charging their cell phones and ipods; kindles are just one more thing to plug in. But I predict that the whole power-source thing will become a larger deal in the future. There ISN'T an alternative to cell phones that doesn't require a power source, but there's something comforting about being able to read by candlelight if there's a power outage.
ReplyDeleteI intended this to be more relevant to your post, but it seems to have wandered a bit.
"...and I simply can’t think of a logical reason for my obsession with having a two story library packed to the brim with gilt leather-bound books, especially compared to that entire collection in the palm of my hand."
ReplyDeleteOk This may not be a 'logical' reason but whatever: If my entire library collection is 'in the palm of my hand', how will people be impressed with how many books I have? They will see a single kindle, which could have a mediocre collection (both in quality and quantity). Seriously.
And you may say that doesnt matter, but you know it matters a little bit. Do you want to be the well-read kid or the kid with an expensive (for now) gizmo? A kindle and a stack of books do not equal each other socially (yet).
Oh, internet writing. I forgot how easy it was to accidentally hit back and lose the entire post. So here's a second try:
ReplyDeleteI didn't really consider the power source, but in a way it depends on how much of an American phenomenon the e-reader is. Problems arise if it does, especially considering many places don't even have access to a power source. As an aside, didn't they solve that problem with the laptops by making them battery powered? But then, of course, cheap batteries have to be available, which is hardly even true of the U.S. If it remains firmly trenched in the realm of 'neat gadget,' then I guess the point is moot anyway.
As far as libraries go, I'm not saying the need to show off doesn't matter, but wondering why it does. It seems to me that reduces reading into being meaningless unless you can show off that ability to gain knowledge. Which is probably true, anyway; even owning a book isn't a guarantee that you've used it, just that you have the ability to. Maybe I just have some sort of idealized version of it all. Knowledge for knowledge's sake, that sort of thing.
a word about the energy issue: solar power and rechargable batteries...
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dr. Schwartz. Look at this link to an LG e-reader with an equivalent sized solar panel in the cover next to it. LG Solar cell
ReplyDeleteIt probably won't go to market until 2012 but still it is intriguing to consider the possibility of an e-reader untethered by the need to be recharged.
"Couldn’t the Kindle be the bridge, a sort of temporary replacement for the internet?"—I love this idea, a sort of consciously decelerating technology (the e-reader) used to 'bridge' old-school literacy and the intense (assumed) connectivity of internet communication. In other words, can an e-reader do what laptops and cellphones do not do as easily?—i.e., shift old modes of knowledge production to a new media form?
ReplyDelete