The article kicks of with the oft-repeated and still-unintelligible-to-me claim that Amazon's e-books now outsell paperbacks before polling some well-known bookworms on their thoughts on e-books and e-readers and the future of reading:
"Not to diminish the value of a paperback, when it comes to somebody investing in a hardcover, it’s something you want to keep. Everything from a cloth-case wrap to a leatherette to a foil-stamped cover, heavier paper, better binding, innovative cover design. You have to give readers a choice, between a richer experience with paper and board and cloth, and a more sterile experience through an electronic reader. We just try to make every aspect of the physical book as good as it can possibly be, because that’s our greatest hedge against the dominance of e-books." -Dave EggersI've written before about the power of a paper book (whether paperback or hardcover) over an e-book, particularly in the arena of smell. Eggers, like so many other bookworms, is acutely aware of the power of a physical book to captivate and spellbind readers, and despite the convenience of e-books, we have yet to see them figure out that part of the industry.
"How you read is not as important as: will you read? And will you read something that’s a book—the sustained train of thought of one person speaking to another? Search techniques are embedded in e-books that invite people to dabble rather than follow a full train of thought. This is part of a general cultural problem." - James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress (this passage also quoted in today's Shelf Awareness)This is why Billington is the Librarian of Congress and I am not: he's managed to put into words my own problem with e-books and the concept of enhanced e-books (which Ron Charles also touched on in one of his Totally Hip Book Reviews). E-books, and particularly enhanced e-books, are designed to give readers more options, more content, more information. But when reading a book, do we really need all that? Do we even want it? The book itself should shine through on its own, without the aid of author interviews, blurbs from famous people, or embedded video.
Personally, I avoid reading editorial introductions to any book I have not yet read. I tend to skim the back-cover summary to see what a book is about, but avoid learning much more about it so I can form my own opinion. The book is a standalone item, and if it fails to succeed without the noise that surrounds it... well, then it's failed to succeed.
So. I have an e-reader, though I have yet to complete an entire book on it. I am intrigued by the convenience of an e-reader, and the options for enhanced e-books. There are some titles - like War in the Pacific - which cry out for an enhanced e-book, but I believe this is an area in which authors, publishers and editors should tread lightly. It's just one quick slip to fall into the imagined world of Ron Charles, after all. What about you? Thoughts? Do you have an e-reader? Do you read enhanced e-books?
