“For every 100 copies of a physical book we sell, where we have the Kindle edition, we will sell 48 copies of the Kindle edition. It won’t be too long before we’re selling more electronic books than we are physical books.”
— Jeff Bezos (via marco) (via peterwknox) (via mikehudack)
Not until the Kindle drops in price, that is.
While I don’t mind reading books on a screen, I do very much enjoy browsing bookstores. No digital experience will ever compare to that.
I am also doubtful that any digital experience will ever compare to looking at one’s bookshelf and getting a very visceral sense of the _being_, the blood & sweat & tears, contained within the pages there.
Also, a very crucial part of human development happens in the ‘analog’ world. The ability to turn pages develops / requires fine motor skills. There are very few things more amazing and precious to me than watching a toddler learn to turn pages in a book (not the thick, boarded kind) — the tiny fingers grasping at the edges and corners then pressing away extraneous pages, the sweep of the little hand down the paper and over… It’s awesome.
In general, I’m okay with digitization but only if we pay attention to and understand what we are giving up or throwing away. (Not that it will happen soon, but the way some tech moguls talk, we’ll be burning/shredding books in five years).
