As part of my Sunday morning ritual of reading the Strib, I always make a point of checking out the Target ad (whether I need anything or not.) The gift/technology item that really surprised me was the newest in book technology. It was a Sony Digital Reader "book" for $299.99. 
( image courtesy of www.gizmosforgeeks.com)
Basically, it stores up to 160 books, includes an MP3 player, and eradicates the need to print books on paper. You upload the book(s) of your choosing, lets say all seven Harry Potter books, and then you have an easy, digital, portable way of carrying around all seven books to read. (Because who would want to wait until you get home to grab the next book in the series to begin reading? Not those in the instant gratification world!)
It seems like a terrific idea for college students--$300 for the gadget and another $10 to download the book you need for your undergrad? The benefit to this is not having to go to the bookstore, buy the book for $120 that someone else has highlighted, and then sell it back at the end of the term for $30. To me it seems like a plus for the college group, especially when you do the same thing 2-3 times a year with 4-5 books for a course. I know this is designed to be one of those overpriced gadgets you are supposed to buy for the person who you don't know what to buy for, but who really is the market for this? Is it that difficult to carry one book around, let alone needing to carry 160 to choose from?
But are books printed on paper that bad? If as a society we transition from books as we know them now to digital books, will we ultimately lose some form of culture in the end? Will candle stores begin marketing scented candles modeled after the smell of old books, once we've switched over to digital books? I'm interested to know how all the librarians/media specialists/English teachers feel about this.
( image courtesy of www.gizmosforgeeks.com)Basically, it stores up to 160 books, includes an MP3 player, and eradicates the need to print books on paper. You upload the book(s) of your choosing, lets say all seven Harry Potter books, and then you have an easy, digital, portable way of carrying around all seven books to read. (Because who would want to wait until you get home to grab the next book in the series to begin reading? Not those in the instant gratification world!)
It seems like a terrific idea for college students--$300 for the gadget and another $10 to download the book you need for your undergrad? The benefit to this is not having to go to the bookstore, buy the book for $120 that someone else has highlighted, and then sell it back at the end of the term for $30. To me it seems like a plus for the college group, especially when you do the same thing 2-3 times a year with 4-5 books for a course. I know this is designed to be one of those overpriced gadgets you are supposed to buy for the person who you don't know what to buy for, but who really is the market for this? Is it that difficult to carry one book around, let alone needing to carry 160 to choose from?
But are books printed on paper that bad? If as a society we transition from books as we know them now to digital books, will we ultimately lose some form of culture in the end? Will candle stores begin marketing scented candles modeled after the smell of old books, once we've switched over to digital books? I'm interested to know how all the librarians/media specialists/English teachers feel about this.
4 comments:
As a member of the book generation, I would always choose a print format as my first choice for reading for pleasure (audio book on my iPod as my second choice). But I know that our students are much more willing to go with new ideas and the Kindle or the Sony Digital Reader will probably really catch on. I find it amazing that you could purchase a digital textbook for $10--that in itself is a great advantage to the expensive used textbooks...not to mention how much easier it is to carry around in a backpack. I would like to buy a digital reader someday...it would still give me the pleasure of sitting in a comfy chair with the book in my lap with the ease of downloading the books of my choice at a reasonable price. This truly is a historical time of transition for print material. (How much longer will print newspapers be around?)
I'm really interested to see where this goes . . . I think there are a lot of advantages, though, of course, I prefer books. Just thinking back to my recent trip, it would have been a lot easier to carry a digital reader than to lug around books (and leave them in hotels in order to lessen the load). With the price continuing to come down, this is within reach now, so I may just have to check them out soon!
Personal preference - paper books. The argument for electronic college textbooks - huge!!! As the mom of two college students, I find the book store bills to be prohibitive.
As an avid book reader I was of the opinion that I would not enjoy reading a book on a digital device. Then my 73 year old father came over for Turkey Day with a Kindle and I found that reading a digital book is no less pleasurable not to mention how easy it is to browse the online bookstore and buy books. I'm torn because I love going to bookstores and spending time wandering the stacks.
As for digital textbooks, just think of how much easier it will be for students to do searches. They can also highlight and doodle digitally without having to pay for textbook damage end of the year. Being able to type one's thoughts or questions in the "margin" might help some students learn better.And their backpacks will be considerably lighter. ;-)
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