As
e-books and e-readers continue to rise in popularity, I’ve noticed comments on
the death of print slowly shift from outrage to halfhearted acceptance, as if
this next step in literature is totally inevitable. However, I refuse to accept that print books
will one day be a thing of the past, to the point where I wrote my final
research paper on the subject for my Freshman Rhetoric class. Now, looking back over my notes, I can’t help
but smile at the dozens of reasons I was able to collect in support of the
survival of traditional books. Maybe
they won’t be around forever and ever, but here are a few reasons why they also
won’t be dying out anytime soon.
First of
all, readers like the physical look and feel of books. Traditional book pages can be flipped through,
corners can be folded over, notes can be written in margins, and back covers can
be dramatically slammed shut. Everyone
loves that old book smell, not to mention the look of a dozen colorful bindings
stacked on nightstands and bookshelves. Sliding
a finger across a single e-book’s touch screen is hardly the same experience as
cracking the binding of a new volume.
Readers
also love the experience of vising bookstores.
Even when setting out for the bookstore with a single title in mind,
almost everyone ends up wandering, browsing, and exploring the shelves before making
a final decision. It’s fun to hear about
new releases and recommendations from the salespeople at bookstores, who are
almost guaranteed to be book lovers themselves.
And the rise in technology is only causing booksellers to become more creative
with their services: many bookstores host events such as signings and book
clubs, or develop unique gimmicks for their bookstore that only further cultivate
the reading community. My favorite bookstore
from home has pets, including birds, rats, fish, a tarantula, cats, and even a
chicken that freely wanders the store.
Finally,
the rise in technology doesn’t automatically mean the death of print
books. TV didn’t kill radio. And in many cases, new technology has
improved the sales of books. In addition
to using blogs, web sites, and social media to promote and sell new books, publishers
and booksellers can track orders, allowing them to only print and order as many
books as would sell. In the past,
publishers would be forced to go to such extremes as burning entire warehouses
of books because there was no efficient way of keeping track of sales. As someone who loves both print books and
technology equally, I for one am fully convinced that these two forms of media
can co-exist.
