Pondering the Future of Books

Ever since the release of the Kindle and now the iPad there has been a lot of talk amongst nerds about the future of the book. Not only do I count myself amongst the nerdy, book-loving masses, I’m also a semi-neo-Luddite who is slightly suspicious of all this new fancy-pants gadgetry that’s about to potentially kill my beloved books.

Now, I’m not close minded enough to say that technology is bad for literature. After all, we’d still be reading off of handwritten papyrus rolls if it wasn’t for technology.  And I do gather most of my news off of the internet. I haven’t subscribed to an actual newspaper in years, mostly because the L.A. Times can’t repeatedly throw their website into the oil stain under my neighbor’s car every day like they did with the hard copy.

The publishing world has been struggling with technological issues for awhile. Issues like how to get people to pay for online content, how to keep bookstores open. Basically the problem of how to cope with a changing world while still capitalizing on the written word has plagued publishing and retail for some time.

Recently I became aware of keitai novels. Keitai novels are basically short chapters written every day on a cell phone and downloaded for people to read much like a soap opera or a blog. The most popular ones get published and made into paperbacks. The first popular keitai novel was pretty dark. It was a story about a young woman who prostituted herself to pay for her boyfriend’s heart surgery. More recent keitai novels are light, teenage romances full of slang, shorthand and texting phrases. Not literary masterpieces by any stretch. Here’s a sample from a recently published novel that has made over $600,000.

“I changed into a suit for the party. . . . When I stepped out of my room . . . Miku was there. Miku was in a pink one-piece dress, wearing white heels. She looks mature because her hair is lightly curled. She’s looking straight at me. It’s hard to keep my cool when she’s looking at me like that.”

It reads sort of like a high school detention daydream. Part of me recoils in horror thinking that this is the future of literature but the other more open minded part gets kind of excited thinking that people who don’t have Master’s degrees in literature might find a voice through technology. After all, blogs have been operating this way for a number of years. Bloggers who are able to successfully build a large readership are rewarded with book deals and in some cases T.V. shows.

I guess my concern is throwing the book out with the hardcover, so to speak. There are a lot of benefits to this sudden change in technology like the emergence of new voices and a lower carbon footprint. But, how sad would it be if bookstores went the way of record stores? I love browsing in bookstores, curling up with a book and looking at the cover art. I also like going to people’s houses and checking out what they read and discussing it (nerd alert!). Plus, Amazon can’t come to my house and take my copy of 1984. Like most things in the 21st century, the market will dictate the future of the book. Let’s just try to be aware of our ability as consumers to help shape that outcome.

I’ll leave you with some beautiful, inspirational book sculptures by Brian Dettmer. His sculptures ensure the importance of books as precious objects even while he’s cutting them to shreds.

WE WANT YOUR OPINION:

Have you made the switch from paper to online? Solid books to ebooks? Tell us about it.