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Hard Copy Book or Ebook? 11/19/2013 1:48:25 AM
Should we be concerned about a future with more eBooks than hard copy books?
As a newly self-published author, I have been intrigued to find my eBook sales are streaking ahead of physical sales by a ratio of approximately 3/1. I can’t confirm with any certainty my experience is the norm but it has prompted me to speak to a few friends, as a form of survey and the results do seem to confirm my experience is not unusual.
Now I have to start by saying, I don’t own any form of electronic reader and frankly it won’t be on my Christmas list. That said, I did buy several of my older children a Kindle each last year as their present, so I am not in theory opposed to them. It is more that I just enjoy the experience of holding a book in my hand and turning the pages. Quite possibly you will think this is to some degree age related. I am fast approaching my 60th birthday but sadly have spent the last 40 years in IT, rather than writing, so it is not that I am uncomfortable generally with technology.
Of course, price is a very important factor in the massive increase in sales of eBooks and it must be viewed as positive, as it makes books more easily available to anyone on a tight budget. Given our children are becoming used to so many electronic aspects to their daily lives, then perhaps eBooks are essential to encourage the young to read more, though I am not entirely convinced, as personally I think you can attach greater value to a real book you share at bedtime with your children, compared to just another image on a screen.
I am also not sure of the impact on book shops and libraries if hard copy sales continue to fall. I can spend hours in a book shop looking at the shelves and as a child spent many hours in libraries. Perhaps I am wrong to be concerned at the future I see and fear?
It is not a great analogy but if someone told me there was a pill I could take that would replace all my meals and give me the perfect diet, they may sell it as more convenient to take and various other benefits but I still wouldn’t be interested. Eating is another of my great pleasures and the experience is almost as important as the content. Taking the analogy one step further, if someone serves up a meal that looks messy on the plate and isn’t quite cooked properly, then no matter how promising the ingredients, I am also not going to enjoy the experience. That is a bit of a random observation and off my theme for this blog, but worth a mention because I have recently looked at a couple of self-published books, which were very poor in terms of grammar and other avoidable mistakes, which detracted hugely from an otherwise promising book.
Back to my main theme and what does the future hold for the physical book versus electronic? I can’t begin to pretend I have any special insight to the future. However, if one looks at all other spheres of our lives, the inevitable conclusion is that electronic books are likely to outstrip physical books, by an ever increasing number. I am not a Luddite but should we be concerned that a reliance on electronic reading might also leave us exposed to new forms of censorship and control in the future? Is it a further step towards an Orwellian state?
Fortunately, as I get to write this blog I can simply pose questions and invite comment!
