Comments on: Ebooks: More Boon to Literacy Than Threat to Democracy

By: Malcolm

Malcolm — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:25:44 +0000

In regards to your last point, who in this country doesn’t have access to books? No one. Ebooks, being ephemeral, might actually hurt in that regard. As far as regions of the world where people don’t have many books, the barriers of literacy and language are far more of a problem than physical distribution, the cost of the infrastructure for ebooks is far greater to build and maintain than carting in a pile of discarded paper.

I don’t think penny dreadfuls and paperbacks increased access to books, there were certainly bestsellers before paperbacks, but they did increase the number of things that were being published. That, however, is a seperate issue.

By: Donigan Merritt

Donigan Merritt — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:01:34 +0000

I agree with Franzen.

You lost me when you went to sarcasm to make a point.

I also agree with Leb Lemming, above.

By: SocraticGadfly

SocraticGadfly — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:50:27 +0000

That said, to the degree ebooks feed hypercapitalism, and, along with it, ebook spam by Amazon (it’s bad about it, and others may follow in its tracks), concerns about ebooks aren’t totally misplaced, either. And, IMO, the paperback:hardback analogy only modestly correlates with the ebook:”hardcopy” parallel.

By: Digital Comics part 2: User Experience | Publish or Perish

Digital Comics part 2: User Experience | Publish or Perish — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:16:07 +0000

[...] Franzen grumped about how eBooks were a threat to democracy. This morning I read a pretty good rebuttal by science writer Carl Zimmer. I tend to agree with Zimmer in that I believe eBooks are a great way [...]

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:03:03 +0000

Just an edit remark: Franzen’s quote is not delineated by formatting or quote marks-at least in the mobile version-confusing for someone who may not have read the original.

Ed: Thanks for the heads-up, Peter. It’s indented on the desktop version, but apparently that formatting didn’t make it to the mobile version. We’ll have to fix that up.

By: Gypsy

Gypsy — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:52:41 +0000

As little as two years ago, I had three bookstores within easy walking distance of my house. I now have none. Online retail and e-books are changing the way we read and shop. Do I miss my Saturday morning wanderings around the book store with my coffee? Do I worry that my new-born son will never know the joys of a building filled to the brim with paper, glue and ink?

Yes and yes.

In order to maintain my addiction, I’ve had to adapt. I bought an iPad. I now buy eBooks. The ones I really like, I buy print editions of. Do I feel guilty about enabling the demise of the physical book store? Do I revel in the out of print books I would never have found in a real book store that are now only a click away?

Again, yes and yes.

By: floodmouse

floodmouse — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:28:16 +0000

eBooks are great as long as print books are still available. The problem is what happens if all the eContent can be controlled by a central source, like a government. It wouldn’t be too nice if 50 years after you die, some government issues a version of your work, under your name, that contains ideas completely opposite to the ones you really advocated. Unless someone has a print book on a shelf, and the hard copy doesn’t get confiscated, who would even know? eBooks would be more stable if the technology guaranteed you could own copies on storage devices that no one can mess with remotely, but I’m not sure that will be the case.

By: RJ

RJ — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:05:28 +0000

The format is irrelevant, I remember the plots, characters, and descriptions I’ve read in the past but can rarely remember if I own the paperback or hardcover version. The same will apply to the ebook version.

Lab Lemming, I could state, for myself, just the opposite of your post. One of the most awesome things about ebooks is… Like peer review, the competent and entertaining writers will rise to the top, but now you and I can discover the next Richard Bachman without having to wait decades for some elite publishing machine to turn him into Steven King first.

By: Everlasting permanence | Gene Expression | Discover Magazine

Everlasting permanence | Gene Expression | Discover Magazine — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:46:29 +0000

[...] channeling a meme which seems to be prevalent in a certain cultural milieu. Carl Zimmer does a excellent job dispatching Franzen’s assertions on the merits But I think we might benefit from a little [...]

By: Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:59:26 +0000

One of the main problems with e-books is that that are so easy to publish. On amazon.com , you can even self-publish.

This is a much more fundamental change then the format on which a book is printed. Changing from hardcover to paperback didn’t cut the editor out of the loop, for example. E-books could easily do that.

If an ebook was just an add-on to a traditional publishing run, like a paperback, then everything would be fine. But cutting out editors and reducing the diversity of publishing houses in favor of automated online retailers could certainly impact the quality of disseminated literary works.