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 roles of the medium are irrefutable, as is their position in society: they are tools of transformation and enlightenment; preserving knowledge for all to examine.
For centuries, we have seen this knowledge manifested in the form of hardcover books. From the writings of Lau Tzu to religious texts, man’s discovery of paper and ink has led to the emergence of countless libraries. Books have been the primary means of encoding a wide range of ideas since time immemorial, a status that has so far not changed except for the advent of technology in the 21st century. With computers, tablets, and mobile phones increasing in capacity, we now have a completely new platform for hosting books.
E-books, or electronic books, allow you to host entire libraries on something as simple as a handheld smartphone. They are inherently more portable, faster to access, easier to store, and, with research-oriented books in particular, allow for the incorporation of hyperlinks that are an efficient way to learn more; Easy to reproduce, 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 on the rise when it comes to borrowing, almost matching that of hard copies, as librarians continue to expand their e-book collections1.
It’s easy to see how the society of the future can 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 you might expect.
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, for all its advantages, is very easily corrupted and destroyed. The wrong combination of buttons can easily eliminate entire libraries of literature. And should the device itself get corrupted in some way? It could restrict access to all books, perhaps irrevocably. This damage could be offset by the fact that e-book copies are easy to make, but still, it’s a far cry from the robust durability of physical copies that are harder to destroy. Some people find it more difficult to adapt to and read e-books compared to regular books, although that can also be offset by continuous reading and simply getting used to the new format. Books are not limited by battery life and with care they can be reread almost infinitely. But perhaps the most important factor in favor of the survival of the books is simple human sentimentality.
Many times we, as a culture, form certain associations with objects that give them an 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, becoming more important as time passes. Even knowing, with electronic books on the rise, book reading has not decreased, nor have their rates decreased, it remains forever the monopolizing medium for the transfer of the written word.
Perhaps someday 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, dependability, and great attachment we have for books, such a scenario is a long, long time away.
Notes
1. Justin Littman and Connaway Lynn Silipigni, ‘An Analysis of the Circulation of Printed Books and Electronic Books in an Academic Research Library’, Library Resources and Technical Services 48, Issue 4 (2004): 256-262.
2. William H Walters, ‘Electronic Books in Academic Libraries: Challenges for Acquisitions and Collections Management’, Portal: Libraries and the Academy 13, Issue 2 (2013): 187–211.
Bibliography
Littman, Justin, and Connaway Lynn Silipigni. ‘An analysis of the circulation of printed books and electronic 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 Acquisitions and Collections Management’. Portal: Libraries and the academy 13, iss 2 (2013): 187–211.
