For centuries, the written word has been a transmitter of information from one generation to the next, capturing the thoughts, images, and narratives of writers, to be pursued at will by curious people. From stories to facts to valuable research, the role of the medium is irrefutable, as is its position in society: they are tools of transformation and enlightenment; preserving knowledge for all to examine.
For centuries we have seen this knowledge manifest in the form of physical hardcover books. From the writings of Lau Tzu to religious texts, man’s discovery of paper and ink has led to the rise of countless libraries. Books have been the primary medium for codifying a wide variety of ideas since time immemorial, a state that has so far remained unchanged except for the advent of technology in the 21st century. With computers, tablets, and mobile phones improving their capabilities, we now have a whole new platform for hosting books.
Electronic books, or E-books, allow entire libraries to be housed in something as simple as a handheld smartphone. They are inherently more portable, faster to access, easier to store and, with especially research-oriented books, allow for the incorporation of hyperlinks which are an efficient way to learn more; easily replicable, without the need for printing costs or the possibility of damage, deterioration or loss. In fact, e-books have found their own home in libraries and are increasing in terms of lending, almost equaling that of physical copies, as librarians continue to expand their e-book collections1.
It is easy to see how the society of the future can simply have thousands of pages of information accessible with the swipe of a finger: efficient, streamlined and consistently more versatile.
So, in the face of such improvements and features, what is the future of books in the world? Perhaps surprisingly better than one might expect it to be.
The future of books goes hand in hand with the downsides of the e-book medium, as well as a little extra2. The electronic medium, despite all its advantages, is very easily corrupted and destroyed. The wrong combination of buttons can easily wipe out entire libraries of literature. What if the device itself somehow got corrupted? You could restrict access to all books, perhaps irrevocably. This damage may be offset by the fact that it is easy to make copies of e-books, but still, it falls far short of the robust durability of physical copies that are more difficult to destroy. Some people find e-books more difficult to adapt and read, compared to regular books, though that can also be offset by continued reading and just getting used to the new format. Books are not limited by battery life and, with care, can be reread almost infinitely. But perhaps the most important factor in favor of the survival of books is simple human sentimentality.
Often we as a culture form certain associations with objects that give them added value or meaning than they would otherwise have. We glorify them, adding connotations to their status and making them important symbols. Books, for millennia, have been associated with knowledge and high intelligence. We have mental images in our heads of our grandparents poring over thick leather-bound tomes in search of lost knowledge, and that mental image has evolved, gaining more importance as time goes on. Even knowing, with electronic books on the rise, book reading has not decreased, nor has its rates decreased, it remains forever the medium that monopolizes the transfer of the written word.
Perhaps some day in the future, perhaps when technology has become much more deeply ingrained in our society, we can expect physical books to decline in popularity and perhaps fall into relative disuse. Still, with the endless romance, reliability, and sheer attachment we have to books, such a scenario is a long, long time away.
Ratings
1. Justin Littman and Connaway Lynn Silipigni, ‘Analysis of Print and E-Book Circulation in an Academic Research Library,’ Library Resources and Technical Services 48, Issue 4 (2004): 256-262.
2. William H Walters, ‘E-Books In Academic Libraries: Challenges For Acquisition and Collection Management’, Portal: Libraries And The Academy 13, edition 2 (2013): 187–211.
Bibliography
Littman, Justin, and Connaway Lynn Silipigni. ‘A circulation analysis of print books and e-books in an academic research library’. Library Resources and Technical Services 48, Edition 4 (2004): 256-262.
Walters, William H. ‘Electronic Books in Academic Libraries: Challenges for Collections and Acquisitions Management.’ Portal: Libraries and the Academy 13, edition 2 (2013): 187–211.