Comments on: As easy on the eyes as paper – On books and e-readers

By: Phoebe

Phoebe — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:49:39 +0000

The e book sounds as stupid as the time they said the internet would take over the role of a teacher…
people can barely learn from things tangible and in front of them, let alone through a medium that is pretty much used for everything now anyway… soon it will unfold as a loo.

By: TF

TF — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:59:04 +0000

“Drawing down from a catalogue of books, rather than the unique tome in your hand – works for the 3 minute pop song, or the 40 minute LP, not for a book that requires 3-4 hours of non-continuous application”

“In London, the e-book is all about being able to read on a Tube train, probably with your ears clotted by an I-Pod to provide as much sensory blockage of other people as possible”

are my thoughts exactly.

By: marc nash

marc nash — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:03:23 +0000

My issue with the move towards e-readers is that it is all about convenience, ie lifestyle for the reader and not about anything intrinsic to the literature itself. I haven’t read (viewed?) Nick Cave’s “Bunny Munro” but that I can see is about the literature itself, with music and video embedded as part of the ‘book’ experience. To me, reading on a screen is qualitatively and functionally different to reading a book in your hand. Drawing down from a catalogue of books, rather than the unique tome in your hand – works for the 3 minute pop song, or the 40 minute LP, not for a book that requires 3-4 hours of non-continuous application.

Why not go the whole hog and just implant knowledge of books inside our brains on a chip, then we wouldn’t have the inconvenience of dedicating ourselves to reading them.

In London, the e-book is all about being able to read on a Tube train, probably with your ears clotted by an I-Pod to provide as much sensory blockage of other people as possible.