Another electronic book reader has arrived, ready to do battle with its paper cousins. But, writes cultural critic Stephen Bayley, it faces an uphill struggle against a truly beautiful knowledge delivery platform.
Another electronic book reader has arrived, ready to do battle with its paper cousins. But, writes cultural critic Stephen Bayley, it faces an uphill struggle against a truly beautiful knowledge delivery platform.
What is the most flexible, intelligent, interactive data retrieval system yet to appear?
What is the most flexible, intelligent, interactive data retrieval system yet to appear?
It's the book.
It's the book.
As a source of high density data storage, the book offers unparalleled ease of access. Data can be retrieved in sequence or at random. Image and text can be presented in any variation of density. Hand-writing did not replace speech, wood-block print did not replace hand-writing
As a source of high density data storage, the book offers unparalleled ease of access. Data can be retrieved in sequence or at random. Image and text can be presented in any variation of density. Hand-writing did not replace speech, wood-block print did not replace hand-writing
In addition, books are inexpensive and available in many different formats, colours, shapes, sizes and weights. The book is readily portable and requires no energy or lubricants to maintain. Being modular, it is easy to store.
In addition, books are inexpensive and available in many different formats, colours, shapes, sizes and weights. The book is readily portable and requires no energy or lubricants to maintain. Being modular, it is easy to store.
Oh, and probably lasts for ever. If eternity does not appeal to the owner, the book can be easily recycled. No wonder books have been popular for a thousand years or so.
Oh, and probably lasts forever. If eternity does not appeal to the owner, the book can be easily recycled. No wonder books have been popular for a thousand years or so.
With the arrival of the ingenious Sony Reader it's worth making the case for the book. There will be an appreciative market for electronic reading systems among weight-conscious travellers, but books are not going to disappear in a Gotterdammerung of pixellation.
With the arrival of the ingenious Sony Reader it's worth making the case for the book. There will be an appreciative market for electronic reading systems among weight-conscious travellers, but books are not going to disappear in a Gotterdammerung of pixellation.
Changed perceptions
Changed perceptions
No new communications technology has ever wholly replaced its predecessor. Hand-writing did not replace speech, wood-block print did not replace hand-writing. Radio did not succeed print. Television lives side-by-side with radio. And so on.
No new communications technology has ever wholly replaced its predecessor. Handwriting did not replace speech, wood-block print did not replace handwriting. Radio did not succeed print. Television lives side-by-side with radio. And so on.
What happens is that any new medium changes our perceptions of existing media and we adjust our behaviour and taste to fit.Books do furnish a room, Anthony Powell suggested
What happens is that any new medium changes our perceptions of existing media and we adjust our behaviour and taste to fit.Books do furnish a room, Anthony Powell suggested
And so it will be with the book when electronic readers become commonplace. It may be the end of the cheap paperback, but a new era of more expensive books will be a pleasing stimulus to publishers and a new source of delight to human readers.
And so it will be with the book when electronic readers become commonplace. It may be the end of the cheap paperback, but a new era of more expensive books will be a pleasing stimulus to publishers and a new source of delight to human readers.
After all, the value of books is not determined by literary content alone. Colour, shape, texture and even smell are all elements of the reader's enjoyment. Better papers, more adventurous design, and quality typography are all now delicious prospects.
After all, the value of books is not determined by literary content alone. Colour, shape, texture and even smell are all elements of the reader's enjoyment. Better papers, more adventurous design, and quality typography are all now delicious prospects.
Already there are signs that this is happening.
Already there are signs that this is happening.
Blockbuster is a lazy old expression... until now. Just published by FMR in Bologna is an, as it were, ground-breaking volume on Michelangelo. Its cover is real marble and shows in miniature the Madonna della Scala, a bas-relief from the Casa Buonarotti.
Blockbuster is a lazy old expression... until now. Just published by FMR in Bologna is an, as it were, ground-breaking volume on Michelangelo. Its cover is real marble and shows in miniature the Madonna della Scala, a bas-relief from the Casa Buonarotti.
With original photographs by Aurelio Amendola, Michelangelo: La dotta mano (Michelangelo: The learned hand) is guaranteed for 500 years, weighs 21kg and costs $155,000 (£87,000).
With original photographs by Aurelio Amendola, Michelangelo: La dotta mano (Michelangelo: The learned hand) is guaranteed for 500 years, weighs 21kg and costs $155,000 (£87,000).
So, just when we are being told print is dead or dying - the Guardian Media Group's Alan Rusbridger has said his new printing presses are the last they will ever buy - someone invents the luxury book.
So, just when we are being told print is dead or dying - the Guardian Media Group's Alan Rusbridger has said his new printing presses are the last they will ever buy - someone invents the luxury book.
Books, as any visitor to a civilised house knows, do furnish a room. Books never look untidy, even when piled in tumbling stacks.
Books, as any visitor to a civilised house knows, do furnish a room. Books never look untidy, even when piled in tumbling stacks.
Transatlantic flight boon
Transatlantic flight boon
They have sculptural presence and provide islands of interest wherever they are found. What precious insights into an individual's psychology are revealed in the hierarchy of display with the books in the loo and the books on a drawing room table? The knowing and sly host can play unsettling games in this arena.
They have sculptural presence and provide islands of interest wherever they are found. What precious insights into an individual's psychology are revealed in the hierarchy of display with the books in the loo and the books on a drawing room table? The knowing and sly host can play unsettling games in this arena.
A furtive scroll through a Sony Reader's files will never be quite so fascinating. True, no-one in their right mind would want to carry the print equivalent of Sony's electronic library of 160 volumes on a transatlantic flight. But, on the other hand, the Bodleian or the Laurenziana or the National Library of Wales would not be quite so glorious if their shelves were stacked with Sony Readers, especially ones with dead batteries.
A furtive scroll through a Sony Reader's files will never be quite so fascinating. True, no-one in their right mind would want to carry the print equivalent of Sony's electronic library of 160 volumes on a transatlantic flight. But, on the other hand, the Bodleian or the Laurenziana or the National Library of Wales would not be quite so glorious if their shelves were stacked with Sony Readers, especially ones with dead batteries.
There is something sensuous, possibly even erotic, about the book. It appeals to both the senses and the intellect as well as to your hidden interior designer. And what curious pleasures are to be found in antiquarian bookshops - the market for used Sony Readers will perhaps never be quite so attractive.
There is something sensuous, possibly even erotic, about the book. It appeals to both the senses and the intellect as well as to your hidden interior designer. And what curious pleasures are to be found in antiquarian bookshops - the market for used Sony Readers will perhaps never be quite so attractive.
And the best evidence of all for the immortality of the book? By 1995 Nicholas Negroponte director of MIT's futurophiliac Media Lab had become completely convinced of the absolute primacy of electronics. How did Negroponte choose to explain himself to the world? He published a paper and ink book called Being Digital.
And the best evidence of all for the immortality of the book? By 1995 Nicholas Negroponte director of MIT's futurophiliac Media Lab had become completely convinced of the absolute primacy of electronics. How did Negroponte choose to explain himself to the world? He published a paper and ink book called Being Digital.
Negroponte fell in love with the most flexible, intelligent, interactive data retrieval system yet to appear.
Negroponte fell in love with the most flexible, intelligent, interactive data retrieval system yet to appear.
