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The legacy aspect of libraries—the physical books—will need pretty much the same infrastructure. But as books and information storage in general become less physical and more digital, we'll be asking the question of what the advantage of a physical library is. There won't be a need to go a particular place for downloads or browsing.

Computers? Comfy chairs? Got those at home. Place to meet people? Well, through the computer and phone I have those as well, but in person—that will be the library's raison d'être. So to bring this back to The Music Man, the library won't be a place of silence but a place meant for conversation.

I hope that libraries will survive as public spaces but I think that our facilities will need to join with recreation centers, and other public spaces that allow more activity and conversation than the traditional library space does currently. Our newest library was designed in the old way - no private space, no comfortable teen area. The only space that works well is our preschool section where we have toys as well as books: parents and children spend time enjoying the facility, and meeting each other.

Good points. It's actually a good question to consider whether or not there even will be libraries in the future. I hope that there will; libraries have always been special places in my life, and I hope that they'll always exist in some form. But maybe I'm just being old-fashioned.

I like the image of the library as a gathering place. As our lives become increasingly digital, maybe we will need places we can go to find real human contact. The libraries in my area have already moved towards being a community center of sorts: they have meeting rooms and offer classes, for example. The library my mom worked at is right next to a high school, and a lot of the students come to the library to hang out after school.

However I hope that libraries can continue to keep a knowledge/learning/literacy connection, and not become "just" a community center. I frankly think that the knowledgeable librarians are one of the best resources in the library. Sure, you can find answers to many questions instantly on the Internet, but librarians offer something that the internet doesn't, at least not yet: they have the ability to try to understand what you're really looking for, which is sometimes not what you're actually asking, and they are familiar with a wide variety of resources that can help. I've had a few times when librarians really went out of their way to help me find information that I couldn't have found on my own.

And, of course, I hope that the library will still have at least some books in the future!

Great job for you son being in a performance - and a nod to you for supporting the show as crew.

As for the library of tomorrow, I can only say what budget cuts are doing to the library of today. The next set of cuts at our not-poor library system are targeted at the professional staff, with the idea that anyone can point out where a book is. Self-checkout is already a big part of the system, as is self-signup for computers. I'm not sure that books will disappear from libraries, but librarians sure will.

Rachelle,
I love owning books. When I was teaching I had over 900 books in my classroom. I donated them to an elementary school when I "retired." I am now repurchasing a lot of those same books, so I can study and learn from them. When you purchase a book you own a little piece of someone's words and ideas. I am sure the publishing industry will find a way to survive e-books.

I live in a town of about 100,000. We are down to one major bookstore. However, it's always full of people purchasing books. I make purchases about twice a month. I have about $80 in giftcards and I will be purchasing books with them. Through the blogging world, I have "met" several writers with new books either just out or coming out. I plan on purchasing them, so I can give an educated opinion about their works on my blog.

Long Live Paper Versions of Books!

HILLARY from yesterday
Sorry, I have no blog. If I knew your needs I'd relate the best info I know to help.

It's true, the internet seems to encourage a perception that "anyone can do it" when it comes to writing things down. Because so much is available for free, people are coming to place less value on the work that gets put in to creating a book of any kind.

Though this is a function of the larger societal problem of a sense of entitlement combined with laziness. All too common.

However the one thing we have on our side is the concept of quality, while there is a great deal available for free online, there is very little of any quality that is free. Anything of any quality at all that claims to be free is usually so weighed down with advertisments that I can't stand to look at them and would rather go buy something bereft of ads.

Theres a horrid thought... Free novels online that you scroll through page by google ad covered page...

"Johnny carefully opened the door to see" ENLARGE YOUR ---- FOR A DOLLAR A WEEK.

It's a cool idea for cyberpunk writing but a horrid idea for reality.

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Heaven forbid that we give up our need for real books. I enjoy the act of browsing for books, checking out the back copy, analyzing the graphics...How will we be able to tell quality books apart if they all look the same on a Kindle or Nook? They can't replace the sense of adventure and exploration you feel in a bookstore, searching for a new book or discovering a new author...Where's the challenge if it's all-too-easy to plug in an e-reader and order online? BORING!!!

It's already happening. There's a website called 4Shared. You can't get everything there, but you can get a fair amount of books for download in pdf, txt and even ereader formats. For free. My understanding is that the books are scanned in with text recognition software and then uploaded by whichever user feels the need to upload them.

It's sad, but the minute content goes digital (think mp3's, movies etc.) it becomes far too easy to get it free and that is exactly what is happening with ebooks.

The light at the end of the tunnel is that at least people still seem to buy the odd cd or dvd, but I don't think its the younger generation doing the buying.

You simply can't replicate reading a book. It's like you say: the touch, the feel and the smell of a new book is heavenly -- up there with freshly baked bread and summer fields. Going to your favourite bookshop, browsing until you find that special book which you know that you will love reading and keep proudly on your shelf afterwards is one of the few experiences which remains as magical as it was in childhood, and its power never fades.

There will always be 'book lovers' but I doubt there will ever be 'e-book lovers'.

I think about DVDs versus old school VHS, or CDs vs. mp3s. You can't buy a VHS anymore, and CDs are sort of rare. But here's where I cling to hope (maybe naively so)...whether you buy a VHS or a DVD, or listen to a CD or an mp3, the experience is still the same. You're still watching a movie on the screen or listening to a song. The experience isn't what changes - it's the technology that delivers that experience that changes.

But book reading? There's nothing that can replace the experience of holding pages between your hands and flipping through them as you soak up a story. Reading off a computer just doesn't do it for me. Not when it comes to my fiction. There's just somethign much less cozy about snuggling up in bed with a laptop as opposed to a flexible, worn book. I don't know... I'm probably naive. Maybe young kids won't give a rat's behind about cuddling with a laptop or some other digital device. I'm probably in denial. I just would really hate to see the day when books, actual books, become obsolete (and not just because I would like to make money off them someday).

I hope you're right. I hope I'm old and wrinkled and hobbling by the time that day comes.

I don't know a thing about motorized vehicles, but I do know you can't replicate riding a horse. :-) Besides, an automobile can't step over things. Horses can. For these loud contraptions to be of any valube at all, someone has got to build a lot of roads.

Now, if the roads were already there...

I promise you I do my part. I have a house overflowing with books. Much to husband's dismay at times.

This too shall pass (I think). I know a lot of people have the Wal-mart mentality, in that they prefer a lot of cheap rather than long lasting quality, but I think our readers are willing to pay for our product. It’s a different industry, but Kevin MacLeod provides music as free downloads and makes money from donations. I don’t know how much money he makes, but I know I’ve given him money for the music I have used in videos and I assume other people do as well. People want a good deal, but they don’t want to steal to get it.

I don’t think the real problem is that readers are expecting lower and lower prices. The fact is that the consumer doesn’t know how much a book should be worth. They have no concept of how much money the publisher invests, how many people purchase the book and how much time the author put into it. If we tell them that $1 is a fair price, they’ll take our word for it.

So, the real problem is the willingness of authors to work for free. We all keep putting out all this free content, hoping that it will be our ticket to a paying gig. We spend hours at the keyboard to produce a manuscript to get a publishing contract and though we want the best deal we can get, secretly, we would let the publisher have it for free, just so people will read our work. Until we start taking pride in our own work, the consumer will never see the true value.

I do my part, much to my husband's... and our budget's... annoyance. You're right. I pray the day that no books are bought comes very, very far in the future.

I think another key is to instill the love of books in our children. Read to them, buy them books, take them to the bookstores and let them leisurely pick books off the shelves. Do it as a "pleasure" activity and not a chore (i.e. dont' do the whole "You have to read thirty minutes before you go outside to play" thing"... unless of course it's a kid who hates reading so you have to use that tactic, LOL)

Regardless, I think at a young age you can instill that love of books, and hopefully we'll preserve it at least for one more generation? Maybe?

Having just had a computer crash, I am dubious about the reliability of electronic books. Imagine having read many books on a reader, highlighting passages, and then have the reader crash. I shudder to think of that. It is wonderful to be able to go back to a book, flip a few pages and find what you were looking for. Sometimes it is the cover that prompts my memory about where a quote is, and that is not so easy to do in an electronic venue. I tend to read with a pen in hand to underline important facts and love the feel of books.

While the internet provides some information reliably, recipes, etc. I also know that not all is reliable off the internet, not all who write with such "knowledge" really know their facts. A book that has gone through the process of being edited and fact checked is invaluable. This was underscored for me when my son was writing a paper for his 12th grade class and needed to have a word that he coined be available in some reference source in case his teacher asked for proof of its existence. He felt it was a good word that should exist, so without consulting me, he created a Wikkipedia entry for the word. I know Wikkipedia fact checks many entries, but the ease with which he could place a word into there was disheartening.

I think there will always be a place for books and am encouraged that my children use both electronic books and real books. For pleasure reading they prefer to have a book in hand, not a gadget. In fact today I am off to get my daughter a new book that she requested. She constantly has her face in a book. I know my library will continue to grow, and I pray that when I have grandchildren that I can give them a love of books as well! Heather

Rhys Miller wrote, "there is very little of any quality that is free. Anything of any quality at all that claims to be free is usually so weighed down with advertisments that I can't stand to look at them..."

It's a curious argument, considering where you posted it.

There are quite a few bloggers I read regularly who don't get paid for it and don't have ads. But they're still high quality.

I also haven't found a lack of quality available on the Internet when it comes to "how to" topics.

The Internet lacks gatekeepers so it's "buyer beware." That doesn't mean there IS no quality. It just means you have to be discerning to find it.

Katie: Reading on a Kindle is nothing like reading on a laptop.

Times are changing. We can see it, but I think people will always buy books(especially fiction and devotionals).

The internet has replaced libraries for doing research, but when a person wants to immerse themselves in a book, they want to hold it in their hand; they want to be able to take it to bed or curl up on the couch. There's a "warmth" to a book that you don't find with a Kindle or laptop.

Maybe...I like being able to google "how to" information. But those are books I wouldn't buy anyway.

I'm with you--hopefully this will take a long, looonnnggg time. Because it's depressing that as hard as it is to establish a writing career, it's going to get even more difficult.

Totally agree Rachelle...information comes cheap because of the Internet. I personally see that as a good thing because there is no middle-man between knowledge and it's dissemination.

Sadly, middle-men often have an ax to grind and that influences what information gets disseminated. Obviously, this isn't always the case.

I think it supports what you've been saying about the need to build a platform before attempting to pub non-fiction. People will still pay through the nose to read what Dr. Phil has to say about parenting or what NT Wright has to say about the New Testament--even if you can get most of that information for free from someone else on the Internet.

I foresee the industry going more in that direction.

Have you ever read Ender's Game...it's very impressive that OS Card was saying this stuff 20 years ago, that before you can be taken seriously, you have first to make a name for yourself for free on the Internet. You see that today with blogs, etc...people gain a following and are then taken seriously rather than what's traditionally been the case...you're taken seriously then gain a following.

Rachelle:

Difference being a quality blog like this one takes a deal of reader effort to find, it's not just the first thing on the list when you type in "writing" in google.

My point was also supposed to be related to the concept of effort as well as money being a cost. I suppose I should have been clearer and less rambling.

So yes, you have to be discerning to find the content that is quality. Though I can't think of the last "how to" website I saw that wasn't smothered in ads.

Mostly I was trying to highlight the ray of hope that people are willing to pay for quality, be it in cash or time spent. The internet, particularly for the younger generation (mine and below), encourages instant gratification and they tend to leap on the first thing that fills the bill or just go to yahoo or google answers and fire off a question into the beyond. Such as:

"Why are there school? Is point to it?"

No I'm not making that quote up.

But you get what you pay for, and as someone who earns their money and has very little, I like to spend it on something tangible that lasts.

I like to think that my non-fiction books have quite a bit of entertainment value as well. Sure, you can find some/most/all of the info for free somewhere, but will you have as much fun reading it?

For me, my speaking engagements are starting to support my writing habit. :)

I don't expect more for free because of the internet. I love the internet for research and appreciate the respected sites I use to compile facts for my novels.

Yeah, sure, I love free books such as Harlequin's 60th anniversary downloads or getting Brandilyn's Exposure and Dark Pursuit, but I don't download books that violate copyrights just because I can read them for free.

I'd love to do more brick and mortar bookstore shopping, but our closest bookstore is 45 minutes away and that's in danger of closing. The next closest is 90 minutes. I'm forced to buy books at Walmart, Kmart, or online.

With the economy as it is and with an unemployed hubby who is a full-time college student, I've had to tighten my budget and let go of some of those fun purchases such as books. I've been using the library more often. I hate not doing my part in helping that writer get a royalty, especially since I want people to buy my books, but a girl's gotta do what's best for her situation...as long as it's not illegal. :-)

Interesting--I'd actually thought of this almost in opposite in terms of people getting used to media in digital format. When digital music first came out, we didn't pay for it--we got it for "free" (and, ok, discovered eventually that it was illegal to do so). But having free access opened the door to feeling comfortable with it and preferring it, which is (in my opinion) why we're now willing to pay $0.99 a song. The same is and will continue to happen with websites--many that used to be free now have or are considering subscription or access pass for some or all of the site (Sports Illustrated's site was one I've heard of having this discussion).

I wonder--given this--if it would actually benefit publishers and the industry as a whole to start low with the price--or even offer freebies--of e-books to get people reading on the devices they already have (laptops, computers, smart phones, etc), get them hooked on the idea, then move them toward dedicated devices and higher prices once they're willing to pay (the same movement we took from listening to pirated music on our computers to buying music for our ipods).

Not that I much care for this--I still prefer traditional books. The ones with paper. But I can see a lot of advantages for e-books and hope they find a place in the market that only adds to writers' and publishers' ability to succeed.

I have two words: "Fahrenheit 451" (if you count a number as a word, that is).

Most people think Ray Bradbury's book was about government censorship, but really it was about society self-imposing book banning little by little. He was predicting that people would fuss over the content in books--with different people wanting certain things banned and other people wanting other things banned (can anyone say "politically correct?"). Also, he wrote the book when TV had just been invented, and he foresaw people beginning to want their information delivered in little snippets, all in video format. Of course, he had no concept of the internet and Kindle and people reading books on iphones and blackberries, but still.

While the hows and whys of things have played out differently--we're not begging for banning of pieces of information, but rather demanding the availability of EVERYTHING so we can pick and choose--we are still on the road to having our information and entertainment delivered in streams of visual snippets.

My point? I agree with you :). With the availability of free information online, we need to be careful. But, I do believe there are enough true bibliophiles in the world to keep books in print--at least fiction, anyway. There is just NOTHING that beats the feel of a book in hand and smell of printed pages.... I for one am willing to fight. I'm sure I will eventually buy an ereader for certain things (because some books are ONLY available electronically), but I hope to NEVER have to give up my print books.

Rhys--great points about instant gratification and the younger generation.

Kristen--I wonder if the term "writing career" is going to become obsolete, or eventually apply only to a chosen few. Like playing in a band. Many do it for fun, only a few make a career out of it. Or playing football. I wonder if most of us will have writing hobbies rather than careers.

Rowenna--I think Amazon had the exact same idea you posed: Get people hooked on e-books at $9.99 each, then later raise the price. But it's getting people so used to that price, it will be interesting to see if it works. Will e-book sales fall back down again when prices go up?

I see this happening in printed news more so than hard copy books, at least for now. The newspaper industry is struggling with the 24/7 availability of news online and on cable. By the time the paper arrives at your doorstep in the morning, it is already outdated.

I agree with several of the comments about our mutual love for print books, but I see them becoming more a thing of nostalgia than common household items, over time.

Both my husband and I work in books, so the whole issue is so scary to me. Books quite literally keep the roof over our heads. Trying to see it rationally (tough for me), I'd say that the information in books is still more comprehensive than what you find on the Internet. For example, I'm researching Gullah culture, and I can find interesting bits on the Internet, but it's nothing like what I'd find in a well-written serious book from a unversity press. When I researched my undersea books, I found out (sometimes the hard way) that the Internet is filled with Factoids, things that sound true because one person writes it, another person picks it up, etc, and yet it's not correct.

Anyway, please buy books everyone! I gave everyone B&N gift certificates for Christmas and plan to give them for every gift from now on. I go to my local bookstore every week and browse. I don't always buy, but I am trying to keep this store in business!

I'm too much of a book junkie to not buy books, personally. They're usually at the top of every Christmas and birthday list. My house is piled with them, and my kids fight over who gets to read a book first when one of their favorites is purchased. But I believe it's true that many people are relying on the internet for quick information rather than books. The problem is that the internet information is not very reliable. It's easy accessibility makes it a simple matter for anyone to throw their opinion up on it as fact.

The worse problem is that people in general tend to believe whatever they read without evaluating it critically, no doubt a result of our wonderful public education system. The second problem is probably that businesses like Amazon can undercut almost any brick-and-mortar store in price.

For the most part, it's a reader beware world on the internet.

Rachelle, this is something that concerns me as well. Much of the price of a book is covering the cost of paper and printing and "handling" but what happens when there is no paper and printing? Will people expect digital books to be offered for less and less because of the ease of access? And then how does the author get paid for his/her time and talent? And how about the editors, publicists, marketers, etc.? Interesting thoughts, indeed.

Speaking of fiction only here: I don't expect more for free because of the internet, but it's very cool for a devoted reader (and writer) like myself to have the opportunities for free novels just for posting a review (which I take seriously).

So far, books are it for me. I buy them, I receive them, and I give them as gifts. But here's the thing. Since I buy my share of them, I want the best deal. Most of the CBA novels are overpriced for what they offer. Being self-published, I'm well aware of the costs to produce books. But you give me 80,000 words for $14.99, and I feel like I'm being ripped off. Sorry, but I do. So I'm going to purchase that book wherever I can get a better deal on it--yes, even if it's on the "used" list in great condition on Amazon.

I see it from a completely different perspective.

First, my credibility: I own more books today than I ever have at any point in my life. I'm littered with the things. I love them.

Second, the Internet, and yes, "free" has helped me to make better buying decisions than ever before. Free is good. Free is how money went from my pocket to the pockets of writers that I would have never heard of twenty years ago: Tosca Lee, Theodore Beale, Mary DeMuth, Cory Doctorow and, yes, even Terry Brennan!

Free gives me the power to drill down to make a more perfect union with a book that I'm more than happy to pay for.

As a farm kid, I can remember the adults in my life complaining of the few pennies of income they received from a $2 box of cereal, even though they provided 99% of the edible content. I always thought how much more money we could make if we just made our own cereal and sold it directly to consumers. Of course, I realize now that although there would be a higher profit percentage in this model for the producer, there would also be a dramatic drop in price to the consumer. Good for the consumer to cut out the middleman, but the producer wouldn't see as massive of an increase in income as you might first assume.

When people buy good books, yes, they are paying for good writing, good presentation, good editing, and even a certain level of good screening, but they are also paying for paper pulping, binding, ink, distribution, corporate overhead and, quite significantly, two, three or even five printed books that were not sold to anyone else!

Making a more efficient publishing process should result in slightly more profits for the producers of content, a reduction in profits of middle processing (perhaps to their demise) and a lower cost to the consumer.

Books have been "free" for a hundred years - but Public Libraries have only, in the long run, promoted the purchase of books, not publishing's elimination.

The long-lamented death of the American "pulp" or "dime" novel came about due to a sea change in the publishing world. Cheap books, accessible to the common reader, did not make enough profits to sustain a publishing house with editors, distributors and New York rent, where as the more respectable "event" novels of Phillip Roth, Norman Mailer, John Updike, etc. Could be packaged and sold through restricted distribution channels at much higher returns as blockbuster megasellers.

I'll put it another way: Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog, a television quality entertainment, shot for a fraction of television's production costs, went on to make its producer nearly $2 million and counting. Actors got paid. Agents got paid. Fans got something they wouldn't have seen in the traditional channels.

So, yes, things are changing. But "free" is not the enemy, merely a medium, neither the bugbear its detractors make it out to be, nor the panacea its wild-eyed apostles claim it is.

The writers, editors and agents who will "win" in the changing environment will be those, like Rachelle, who use free as a lever to launch quality products as far as they can go.

I guarantee you that the author of a future bestseller in search of an agent will enter (or already has entered) a business partnership with Rachelle, initially due to the hook that her high-quality online "free" advice provides.

"Free," played well, means money for someone.

Rachelle, this is such an interesting discussion. Everyone likes free stuff. Free stuff has been used for years by marketers to get people to buy more -- and by and large it works. Do I think people will stop buying books? No, I don't. I didn't stop buying CDs just because I can download music. Arguably, I buy more music overall. I didn't stop buying DVDs, or stop going to the movies, when I joined Netflix. The movie theatre is always filled. If someone allows me to download a free chapter of a book, will I buy it? To me this is similar to going to B&N and reading snippets on my own. Call me an optimist, but I think overall the trends can only be good for the market overall.

Good morning, Rachelle;

Yes, we are living in a time of great change, probably the biggest change since the invention of the printing press. A time of transition is always uncomfortable, unsettling, and scary. That is certainly true, now.

I want to comment on something that many people have mentioned, here: "I have a house...full of books." To most of us, that sounds completely normal. Well, it is only normal for a fortunate few.

First, most people have no permanent home or space to keep books. Before I bought my home, I was more selective about the number of books I bought simply because they are heavy and costly to move. That meant I used the library much more than I do today.

My second point is that most people do not have the disposable income to buy many books. Our penchant for buying books is based on our economic status - as is our ability to buy electronic tools to read electronic books.

Like many other parts of our economy, the publishing business depends on the existence of the middle class and the availability of leisure time.

At the time of our nation's birth, a single book was a tresured possession, carefully handed down to the next generation. Libraries were by subscription only and were usually owned by rich individuals. Owning many books was a statement of wealth.

We take these blessings for granted. The God who provided the blessings of: "I have a house...full of books," will continue to provide what we need, even if the publishing world collapses today. Should tomorrow look little like today - free or expensive books, paper or electronic books - the same God is over all.

You've said it yourself, Rachelle, your career is not you; books are not your whole world.

Our ability to cope with change rests in our trust in God.

Be blessed,

Lynnda

In reality, this is a misnomer. The reason the consumer can access information on the internet without paying for it is because of interactive marketing, which is a growing business.
To be honest, I'm not sure I'm concerned about this change, and that's coming from a book lover. The industry is undergoing a massive change--one that hasn't happened in its 500 years of existence (though every other industry has had massive changes in the past 500 years). We'll have to learn what it means to make a living with interactive marketing (for nonfiction). On the fiction side, though sales of paper books wane, I think we can adapt to the growing world of ebooks, not that this will happen in the next few years, as you mentioned. The truth is, story won't disappear. They've always been a part of our lives, orally, carved into stone tablets, calligraphied into manuscripts.
I love paper books--their smell, the feel of the binding giving way for the first time--but I think if we as writers are going to survive and compete with visual story (or, better yet, coexist with visual story), rather than launch an offense to keep the paper book alive, it might behoove us to look for ways to thrive in this new world.

I have been pondering your thoughts about the changes in publishing. I think that in time, the changes of today may return books to their pre very accessible state (say as in Benjamin Franklin's Time or Abe Lincoln's) when books were rare, expensive & precious. I agree that the value of storytelling will not go away but its shape & form will change and thus with it the way the publishing industry is right now. And then, yes, making it more difficult to make a living in writing.

As far as stemming the tide and buying the books, within the homeschool community reading books is paramount and the purchasing of new books takes place with vigor at various curriculum fairs. Home schoolers are doing their part to keep reading literature from books alive. May we all be raising a generation that keeps the book reading alive so it won't be gone even when we are old and future generations will also enjoy the pleasure of turning pages in a book on the beach, or in bed, or at a park.
Kathleen Jaeger

I read lots of books I get from the library. That's where I've always obtained more books than I can afford to purchase.

But I've then purchased the ones I've loved, to keep forever. Quality of writing will still be what brings someone to crack open a wallet.

Hardcover books at a bookstore are expensive. There's probably not a book on the planet I'd buy full price and I love to read. I do buy them at Costco or on kindle but rarely justify spending over ten dollars for them.

I spend about $50 a month on books. I'll pay for fiction, because I like owning it, and I like the physical feeling of reading a "real" book. Ditto memoir and writing craft books. But I admit: I get lots of how-to information online for free. I don't like to pay for a book if the information is going to obsolete in a few months/years. I want a Kindle, but I'll always be willing to pay for good reading.

Rachelle,
I agree totally.
Although some books I'd be happy with a e-book; the books I want to keep I want to be a traditional BOOK.
I have eight Bibles; they are all written in and marked up extensively. An ebook could never compare to your own personal copies of words on paper.

Hi Rachelle, I've just put a post up about my sony pocket ereader that Santa got me (after trying out for your competition, I was hooked).

The pocket reader isn't connected to wifi, all I can do is read a book on there. And that's the way I like it. You're right, I don't think it will ever take place of the feeling of holding a paperback, for me anyway.

But on that note, I love the reader because, as a writer, I can upload my manuscript as a word document and hey presto! It looks like any of the other books I've downloaded. For me it was really inspiring to see it - and also to spot a few typos I missed on the screen and white paper.

I reckon some of the new readers will wow techies, but for me, the pocket reader does exactly what I want with no added extras to distract me. And it's pink!

Rachelle,

Thanks for writing this. So well said.

I love the advances in technology--the computer, the internet, the iPod, cellphones. All have made my life immensely easier and better. But, the one constant since my childhood, has been books--the ink on paper kind. And I hope they remain, in that form, a continuing constant in my life. I have no plans to buy an eReader and seriously can't see myself ever needing one as long as books exist.

So much of our daily lives are "interactive." I look to a good book to get away from all that, to escape. I want the simplicity of the words on the page and my own imagination to fill in the blanks. I don't need a link to a website or a video reenactment to do it for me.

I totally agree with you, Rachelle. Though I'm not a fan of e-books, I think the "enriched content" thing goes beyond format. Reading a book requires concentration in a way that watching TV or surfing the Internet just... doesn't. While being distracted from the latter two does annoy me, I can use the back button on my browser or rewind a movie. Books, specifically fiction, are just so much more than that. I think a lot of it is about the visual aspect: when you're reading a book, you have to mentally create your visuals, whereas anything with a screen gives them to you. It's much easier to re-enter the world on the screen, the one you can physically see, after exiting it, than it is to re-enter that mental one. I just don't see how having your concentration broken in the middle of exploring that mental could be anything but frustrating.

If you wanted to add a short story or a written interview of the author at the end of the book, that's a different matter. That already happens in some physical books, though, so it's not exactly something new that technology could offer us.

There might be a valid analogy with music.

Music videos are "so much more" than just a lot of sound.

But how many people watch the video instead of just listening to the music?

I mustadmit I enjoy the convienence of downloading an ebook whenever I feel like it, especially because I live quite a distance from a book shop. But for children an ereader, as they are at the moment, really isn't practical.
Bath/toilet dunkings, juice spills, backpack slam fights, vomit attacks...real books manage to survive these everyday misshaps but an ereader wouldn't stand a chance. Books still rule!
Maureen. www.thepizzagang.com

Rachel, thanks for writing this. I can't agree more! Just yesterday i was looking at my library shelves with beautiful penguin classics, soft fatty volumes with old yellow pages. Old books have this specific cosy feeling, smell, world, and this is definitely something i want my children and grandchildren to know and enjoy. not just read another book on another iphone..

Amen!

I have to agree. All that extra stuff would be distracting, like someone trying to talk to me when I'm reading. The horror!! *grin*

But all these new readers...yeah, they're pretty cool, even if I don't think they'll take the place of a quiet read.

I love the Internet, I love my Blackberry...All the technological interactivity in the world will never replace my love for words on a page.

I absolutely agree.

I just got an eReader two days ago, so this is a timely topic. So far, the experience eReading is "different." I haven't decided if I like it or not, but it certainly doesn't replace the book itself.

Where it does work: I don't have to lug a heavy book to work or on the Metro--I can just take the eReader. Where it will work well in the future as technology improves: school text books and technical books (though even I'm not sure about this one; an eReader for a tech book might not be better than having a library online where you can just look up the page and get the info).

Where it doesn't work: Price. I looked around the eReader's site--honestly $15 for an electronic file was way, way too much. With a price like that, I might as well buy the book.

Where it might help writers: If new writers aren't selling well because they're not getting visibility, bundle several as eBooks in a similar genre and have priced it to sell--of course with the next book for the writer available.

You have a wonderful way with words, and I think you've expressed something that no one else has. No matter how great technology is, it can't replace the experience a reader has with the writer in his own mind. No one else mentions that when they talk about technology, and I think it is the core reason why some things about fiction will never change.

I totally agree!! It sounds nice for non-fiction, although... I think we already have some of that... it's called the Internet. I can read my news online already, and when my hubby needed to fix the dish disposal, instead of buying a "how to book" he went to youtube and watched someone fix one.

You make some very good points. The simple fact is that we have had the technology to deliver many of these extras for more than a decade. We’ve had embedded links from the beginning of the web. Games—we have plenty. Choose-your-own-endings, we had that before the Internet. Video—yeah, we see that all the time too. We could do it all with websites and have. The irony is that we are moving away from that technology in favor of the simple blog, which though it can still include images and video, a blog is essentially “words on paper.”

We’ve had the technology to put pictures in books for a long time, but people who read novels aren’t looking for pictures. Children are, yes, but not your adult reader. Adult readers are looking for an experience that is available through simple words on paper. Occasionally, we like to see an author include a diagram showing were the players were seated when the murder took place or something like that, so there could be a place for small amounts of additional content, but not in every novel. However, the cost of producing that content is likely to be prohibitive. The additional value just won’t be enough to convince readers to pay the cost.

Speaking of eReaders...the hardware manufacture of these items is doomed from the start. IF the phenomenon of eReaders takes off, that technology will simply be integrated into our cell phones.

WORD.

(Pun intended.)

Beautiful post. Thank you, Rachelle.

The oldest "interaction" in the world is talking to people. I wonder if those interactive-happy folks ever talk to anyone, or if they're using the interactive technology to shield themselves from others.

I love books. And the authors I like the best can paint pictures with words. The pictures aren't just physical places, either, they're also emotional and historical, and imaginary. Amazing how much a good author can do with 26 letters.

Writer Jim,
Do you have a blog? The other day I was remembering some of the things you've said, particularly regarding the sovereignty of God in our writing endeavors, and I just really needed to hear them again.

Rachelle,
Perhaps ebooks and ereaders are here to stay but I believe there are too many people, like me, who remember curling up in bed with a flashlight and a copy of Anne of Green Gables. Inhaling the faint yellowed mustiness of an old friend. Patting crinkled spines fondly and musing over one-sided conversations and out-of-nowhere laughs. Cold screen cannot replace pages infused with soul.

A good cup of coffee with a good book, and we are never alone!

The bells and whistles would distract me. Who wants to be distracted while reading a book? I’m there for the story. I’m there for imagination. I won’t even get started on the smell and feel of a book in my hands. I agree…it’s all about the words.
~ Wendy

I tend to be one of those purists who doesn't even like to see a character's picture on the cover. If the publisher's photo matches what I envision in my imagination, it's not a problem. But if the two don't match, it distracts me every time I close the book. :-)

Sometimes when I browse YouTube, I come across alternate videos for well-known songs. Perhaps this is how some people deal with the problem of official videos not matching their interpretation of the music: they make their own video. Maybe someday readers will do something similar for books they love. But I personally prefer to listen to the music without a video, just as I prefer to read books and come up with my own images.

Yes, yes, yes.

I agree! If I read an e-book (fiction) with hyperlinks or an optional soundtrack or mini-videos in it, I'd probably go insane! I hope publishers aren't thinking of taking ebooks in this direction....

Thanks, everyone for your comments! You have a lot of great points. Don't forget, however, that I've had the Kindle since its first generation and I LOVE it. I use it for pleasure reading, but it also has revolutionized my work life. No more printing out manuscripts - I read them ALL on Kindle. I also gave my hubby the Sony Reader for Christmas and he's really enjoying it. So I don't have anything against electronic readers; I think they have many advantages including saving paper, shipping and storage. But I don't think the "bells and whistles" are what the average fiction readers are looking for.

Exactly. I do want a Kindle, but I would hate for my reading experience to be cluttered up by any of the bells and whistles you described.

I must agree. There is no great technology that is going to give my mind a run for it's money when I am lost in a book. Perhaps an author interview at the end of the novel would be something interactive? I'd love to watch that. :)

What I don't like about ebooks is what I don't like about emusic. To me, the actual physical product is a piece of art that we can collect, accumulate, line shelves with, admire, seek out in "used" stores to add to our cherished collections. I've yet to hear of anyone with a beautiful, artistic collection of emusic or ebooks. They don't physically exist. There's a visual satisfaction that goes along with collecting. So in a sense, if we lose actual books to ebooks, we've lost an artform.

Amen and Amen, Rachelle. Nothing beats our own imaginations when it comes to reading books and listening to music.

I feel the same way about movies that you feel about music videos. I have my own vision for what a specific story looks like, and I don't want someone else's superimposed over it because then I lose mine. In fact, I avoid movies made from my favorite books for exactly that reason (and when I cave, I always regret it).

In fact, I'll ditto Sarah Forgrave: I don't even want a photo on the cover. This goes double for book trailers: please don't use photographs of people's faces.

I love my Kindle. I especially love it for traveling because I can carry a stack of books (and a bookstore) in my purse. But I don't want the bells and whistles either.

AMEN. I still want books. "Just" books. They contain whole worlds.

I agree! It's so reassuring to know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

I think when in the old ages people instead of telling eachother stories, they started to write the stories down they were having the same concerns as we do now. What will happen to our bards? What will happen to the liveliness of the story? etc.

Of course the story will change, but I don't worry about it. Let it be what it is. Period.

Bravo Rachelle! You spoke to my heart today. Here's the line that stands out most: "Our private responses to a story are ours alone." I'm in the generation that experienced the first MTV videos. In some ways it was cool to see an artist's rendition of a particular song, but I felt a sense of loss, too, because now whenever I heard that song, I would think of the artist's version. That had replaced what my imagination had envisioned. Something had been lost. That's the same thing that I feel would be lost if real books were to go away, and it would be a tremendous loss. I don't think we can overstate the importance of just words, of a plain old book. I think because technology is so exciting, it is super easy to overlook all of the unseen, unnamed reasons we read just words. I hope it's not only in hindsight, after the art form has vanished, that we realize the loss. I hope we can hang on to our books, while still appreciating what technology has to offer. This seems to be your vision. It's mine as well. I think it's a sound one.

Yes!! Thank you Rachelle!
I agree with you--it's amazing that the technology to make things like the Kindle is out there. I appreciate how it might make editors' jobs easier--and certainly, being able to mark up a work without using paper would be very nice!
But, I love handling books. I love having two bookshelves in my room overflowing with books! And who wants to be distracted with videos and games in a book anyway?
So, maybe sometime a Kindle will make its way into my house--for business. For pleasure, just give me that good ol' paperback!

I completely agree!

Yeah... Video never DID kill the radio star, did it? I'm not so worried about the death of fiction by e-reader.

I'm also unconcerned that kids downloading free copies of pop songs will tear down the music industry.

It's just... not happening, is it?

I don't see the need to fear new technologies. The same things that take chips out of product sales figures also provide free viral advertising, etc. And not everybody wants all their entertainment in digital form. Paper books still sell in massive quantities. Different formats have their advantages and disadvantages, but digital has not shown itself to be universally preferred, and I agree with you that I don't see it ever replacing the printed word entirely.

Then again, I work two jobs that deal with older people who join book clubs and don't feel comfortable with computers... We'll see!

Hillary
I wish Writer Jim had a blog, too.
If he did, we'd all know by now.
What I do is go to Rachelle's old posts and find his stories. I read them over and over. I believe God really will help writers that have good motives.

One day, when I finally own a home, I want to build my dream library. I love to look at books on a shelf. I love how they look. I love to arrange then, and rearrange them. I love to sprinkle memorabilia between and atop books. That visual and tangible arrangement all disappears if I make the switch to going digital. And that makes me sad! I like to read on paper. Can I 100% say I will never buy an e-reader? Well, no. But, I love to curl up with a good book in bed. I most definitely think a cold (okay - they do get hot) laptop would be as comfy. And, an e-reader? I just don't think it's the same. I like the smell of ink. I like when I buy a used book and it has a unique smell to it. And, finally, batteries die. If I am on a long flight, on a long drive, I don't want to book to turn off at a cliff-hanging scene. I'd rather just be able to turn the page. Also, I love to lend and borrow between friends. I love shopping for books in person. I just don't reason for digital outside some of the rational reasons I've seen, such as agents using them to read manuscripts or in business, other documents. When it comes to reading for pleasure, give me ink and trees!

Here here!
I was so sad when they began "movie-izing" the Narnia books-- to me it meant a whole generation of kids would miss out on creating that world in their heads.

Well said.

Kindle is my new favorite possession, but I agree that I feel overstimulated constantly and reading is an escape from that.

And you put words to the same thing I feel about music videos! Loved it- so true!

I read novels to get AWAY from all the technology. I did get a Kindle for Christmas, and I love it. But I only use it for reading. I know there are built in features that would allow me to have access to (I think) the internet, but sometimes you just have to turn all that stuff OFF and reconnect with your imagination. And I'm not getting rid of my old fashioned books anytime soon.

Nice perspective, Rachelle. I, personally, love my Kindle. Will it ever completely replace my physical books? I don't know yet. I do believe it will be a generational thing, though.

Just as our grandparents couldn't imagine TV ever replacing radio as a way to share stories, we can't quite imagine e-readers replacing physical books. "It's just not the same!" we proclaim. But our kids and grandkids...if they know no differently, they'll look at reading physical books the same way we would have thought about listening to radio programs instead of watching TV shows.

I think the benefit of the "extras" that could be provided on e-readers - videos, links, pictures, music, etc - would be a personal choice. It's all there, if you're interested, but you don't have to view it if you don't want to.

There's a lot we can debate about ebooks vs. physical books. It's really a matter of personal choice and what we want to get out of a particular book. Sometimes I prefer my Kindle, others, a physical book, and it varies by the book and the exact reading situation.

For the next few decades, at least, I hope we're given the option to choose. And by then, we may have all grown so accustomed to whatever technology is out at the time, we'll wonder why on earth we insisted on killing trees to hold our beloved stories in our hands, when they take place in our heads anyway.

I think that added distractions will sway some readers away from some prose, but not all prose. I think the hunger for a good story will increase in response to too much cookie-cutter fiction and more of the same Internet tools just on a new device.

I agree.

Just like the movie industry with all their CG effects and such, the distractions do not a good story make. People may rave about the effects, but a good movie is one with a good story line. The story is what makes the movie, not the effects.

The same with books, whether fiction or non-fiction. Sure, it would be nice to have an interactive environment where a word could be looked up for reference (much like a footnote), but nothing replaces a good bit of writing. That's why as an aspiring writer I'm not worried about the eBook. Storytelling doesn't change with new technology, and good stories will always win out over bells and whistles.

Your post is food for thought, Rachelle.

Here's some revisionist history for readers to ponder: what would have been the response if Harry Potter had been released as an interactive ebook instead of plain print?

I don't know the answer, but my guess is that readers would have been entertained, but not invested fully in the characters.

I don't want all those bells and whistles either. Especially if they become like pop-up ads--I don't want it to break my concentration with the book and its characters.

It's all about the story. I'm reading because that's all I want to do--I don't want to be enticed away from the story by games and other interactive features.

Dear Rachelle,

When you said, "People who love to read are specifically the kind of people who don't want too much handed to them, taking away from their ability to imagine," I was reminded of a class I took in college years ago. It was based on a book written by Marshall McLuhan called "The Medium is the Message."

McLuhan's premise was that there are "hot" and "cold" media--hot being those which cause/allow you to participate in what is being shared.

The radio was considered a hot medium because you were forced/allowed to engage and bring your own mental imagery to the table.

Television was cold in that you could sit in front of the box and be spoon-fed everything. Little was left to the imagination. Your brain could wither and shrivel up.

It seems we continue to move toward cold media. Makes one wonder if we are not edging ever closer to the brink of "new-speak" and we will be too brain-deprived to even recognize it.

This is one of the most encouraging posts on the subject I've read. Thanks Rachelle.

The more I read my news online, and read novels on my iPhone (it's always in my pocket; I can read anywhere), the more I notice that electronic copy is much more linear that hard copy.

With a book, it's easy to flip back pages and hold my finger between them to reread something. With an e-book, it's annoying and distracting to the flow. With a newspaper, I can easily browse headlines and stories and read what interests me; online, I have to deliberately click or open a story. I like having all the print at my fingertips--the spaciousness. My mind works differently with different media, and there's a place for both.

Then there are the changes in technology. Will the books I downloaded yesterday be readable in 10 or 20 years? Or will they be like floppy disks or reel-to-reel tape? I own books that are 200 years old.

I got a Sony Reader for Christmas. I was pretty excited to start on ebooks, with a hunch that the Reader would help me keep on-task. It's hard for me to keep a large book on-hand with all my stuff when travelling, and if I want to switch between books... that's right out. The device does exactly what I want, which is present books for me to read with text as large as I want it and no scrolling. Also, no eye strain from staring at a computer or mobile display all day (I do that enough already).

Reading IT on the Reader has helped me discover a couple of other advantages to the ebook medium - I can double-tap a word if I want a definition or if I want to search for any other occurrences of it in the book. Both were very valuable, because I didn't have to look up what the Volstead Act was, and I was able to figure out if certain characters had shown onscreen before. I can also take a bunch of little notes on the text and set them to be hidden while I read, which means I can write on/postit the book all I want without marring the reading experience. It'll also keep bookmarks for me across multiple books.

These are all really great enhancements to the basic reading experience. I don't really desire inline links or videos or anything (though the ebook medium should make choose-your-own-adventure type stories a lot easier to pull off), but I can't deny that ebooks bring innovation to the reading experience. I could have spent a long time trying to find one word in a physical 1050-page book - being able to search it electronically is a sort of bliss.

This was a wonderful, rich, heartfelt, "wordy" post, Rachelle. Very well said!

My husband works at a paper mill and he and I joke that one day our great, great grandkids will be amazed that their great-great grandpa once made that old-fashioned thing called paper!

Amen!

If i want to click through links and not get sucked into anything too deeply, there is always the internet.

When I read a book, I want to get lost in the story. Beginning to end.

I think a few people are missing the point. Whether it is delivered by ink on wood fibers or is sandwiched behind a piece of glass, readers are going to continue to enjoy the internal visualization of the written word. As novelists, we are still going to be able to write stories and people are still going to be able to read them. Technology won’t change that, so let’s get it out of our heads that we have to change because of technology.

Now, given that we have this technology available, either in the form of a handheld device or through a conventional computer, we might consider if there is an opportunity for us as writers to tell stories in a way that we couldn’t before. Motion pictures and television opened a door for us to not just tell stories, but to actually show a story. It didn’t do away with written stories; it is a very different form of storytelling. Video games are yet another form of storytelling. They haven’t done away with written stories or visual stories, but they provide a means by which the gamer has control over the story, within the framework defined by the authors. But what new form of storytelling does this technology allow?

It’s a hard question to answer. If there is an answer other than “there isn’t one,” it is going to come from us in the writer community, not from the marketers selling the technology.

A bookstore nearby is closing down--with big discounts--and it was nice to see swarms of people of all ages buying stacks and stacks of books. Sure, they want the deep discounts but they also want to read actual BOOKS.

E-readers might encourage more people to read, but they can never replace real books.

I say AMEN to that!

I really like this post because you brought up the topic of usability, which I think isn't typically explored in the ereader-real book debate. I like both methods of reading, but I definitely have concerns about ereaders in terms of reader usability. Nick Hornby spoke in San Francisco a few months ago and said that books on shelves are still a statement of our personalities --something I hadn't considered before--and that this use can't be replaced by ebooks. Just something else to think about.

Rachelle, would you consider adding the "search this blog" widget/gadget available through blogger? I'd really like to be able to dig a little deeper into the archives if possible.

Beautiful post, Rachelle. Some of my favorite pieces that you write are when your love of words is evident.

I can appreciate the advantages, especially being able to store and retrieve documents in a compact and accessible system. As a teacher, I'm sure there would be many uses in the classroom for these systems. The prospects are exciting!

However, as a reader, I want my books with pages that I turn by hand. I want to be able to put a finished book on my bookshelf afterwards, and when friends come over to be able to pull a book from a shelf and ask, "Have you read this one yet?" I also want to continue to furnish my classroom with baskets of books for students to browse through. Having the honor of placing real books in the hands of a child is something that I never want to stop doing.

If I wanted my favorite books on a sterile, electronic, space-saving storage system, I'd have rented out a microfiche system years ago. And I'm quite certain that one entire wall of our living room (the longest one) would not be lined with bookshelves and window seats if I didn't love books and plan to keep on loving them.

I think there's room in this world for both, but I hope that books will be with us for a long time to come.

Hillary, I'm not sure what you're seeing on your screen, but my blog does have the search function. It's in the very top bar, on the left.

You've said it perfectly, Rachelle. While I can imagine your examples of non-fiction technological advances, a story isn't better because you can look up a picture of it on the internet while you're reading. No thanks. I'd rather just build the image in my own head. Great post.

This is a great post. Lots of food for thought.

I like you comparison to music videos. Every now and then, I've watched a music video and thought, "what the whatever are you doing?" or "What is this supposed to have to do with the song?"

I don't want to be thinking that about what an e-reader has done to a book. I can only imagine "opening" Ender's Game and seeing a link to e-games based on The Giant's Drink. "No," I'd probably cry, "what the whatever are you doing? Get out of my book!"

I whole heartedly second that emotion!

Loved your post. It captured completely how I feel in regards to the e-reader future. People are thinking too big, and forget why those who love to read, read in the first place. Something about the simplicity of it and letting my imagination take the reins. Thank you.

I don't think these technologies will mess so much with the actual reading of the story (maybe they will but I don't see that being very productive for standard fiction). I can see things added on like author interviews, interactive maps for fantasies, deleted chapters, character backgrounds, and a host of other things much like you'd find on the extras disc of a dvd. If this was done well and was an addition to and not a part of the actual ebook, I think people would buy it, and actually enjoy some of the content.

This must be on the minds of many. I blogged about this on my site today. I will always love the actual physical...let me touch you... I can smell you...book.

I both agree and disagree on the fiction (what a great idea about the math book "try me" insert :)). I think that there might be more opportunity for illustrations or fun chapter headers that have become so rare. It's very expensive to put together multicolored books, but sometimes they can enhance the text even more than a date-place-person slug at the top of the scene.

An example offhand would be the original hardback of Neverending Story. Not only did the first page of a chapter have illustrated borders like an illuminated manuscript, but the text was either red or green depending on which of the two worlds the character found themselves in.

I just think there are opportunities for enhancements (though some are actually throwbacks that got lost in the name of cost effectiveness). However, when it comes down to it, for fiction, I'm with you 100% on it being the story that's important.

YES!!!

Books need no improvements!

Although ... I like the nonfiction ideas you've listed. As a teacher, I look forward to those kinds of links, but there's no need to improve upon perfection :)

I live about an hour from the nearest 'decent' bookstore, so it's a huge treat when I get to go. Downloading a book might be more convenient, but then I wouldn't have anything to look forward to on the weekends!
I can't imagine I'll ever stop buying physical books. They are my world.

"Not only is it interactive, it’s intimate. Our private responses to a story are ours alone, and there’s a special kind of relationship that forms between writer and reader when a connection is made." Sweet.

Truly, "we read to know we're not alone" ~
And however we do it, with whatever medium, sometimes nothing replaces turning the pages of a straight cut or soft, deckled edge...of a real live book.

I refuse to believe we can turn books into a video game like device. As you said, stories went from words from tongues to words on paper. Anyone who can't see the power in what they already are makes me sad.

I refuse to believe we can turn books into a video game like device. As you said, stories went from words from tongues to words on paper. Anyone who can't see the power in what they already are makes me sad.

Rachelle,

I generally agree with your point, but I have to disagree strongly with one of your main supporting arguments.

Interactive fiction has been alive and developing at least since the seventies - beginning with the classic "Adventure" (hard-coded in Fortran) and the wildly successful "Dungeon" (released commercially as "Zork"). The text adventure genre, now commonly supplemented with extensive graphics, is a mature, popular and compelling entertainment medium. And it is entirely about storytelling - but unlike with traditional print, the reader also becomes a character, generally the central character, and influences the course of the action. This form is obviously well-positioned to explode on the new electronic devices. No, it won't replace books. But it will certainly become an increasingly popular associated art form.

-Steve

To pitch in.

What Steve is talking about, MUDs etc, both still exist and evolved into the computer/console RPG we know today. But still the pen and paper RPG market is the biggest it's ever been.

We may start to see interactive fiction on readers in the future (though imo it will be aeons before it's any good) but I don't think this will in any way detract from the classic novel. They're two different things and what I would expect to see is a market for a new product entirely, rather than any replacement of novels.

For example, choose your own adventure, while popular(ish) didn't have a negative impact on novels, partly because it's something rather different and partly because, at least in my view, they were too gimmicky. Just as putting sudden video clips in the middle of my novels strikes me as gimmicky, not to mention horrid.

I wish I had time to read all these comments! So if I repeat something someone else said, forgive me.

I agree in that books can't be completely replace, but I can see a whole new world here for fiction. What if you could read a book on a reader that picked up eye movement and could play music matched to the story at the point? I've always wanted to do something like that.

And what about all the research that goes into a lot of fiction? You could have links in certain sections that would open author notes and research he or she wants to share with the reader. Location pictures, a funny story of how the author's trip to gather info, etc.

The possibilities are unlimited. Kind of like a DVD with bonus features. :-)

I know what you mean. I too have a special relationship with words and prefer to hold them in my hands in the form of textured pages and not delivered to me by way of an odorless gadget. Books are my life. They grow out of my many book cases, sprouting in upward mobility from my office floor like little story-telling mountains.

Thanks for a thought provoking blog.