You know the printing press was lambasted in its day, too, and for many of the same reasons as e-Books. Sterile, mechanical, lacking in craftsmanship and personality.
And when he says "we", who does he mean? Did he let you touch it, hold it, read it? Does it sit on the library shelf along with the others? I suspect not. Six centuries from now, any surviving e-Books will be sitting in storage, cared for by a handful of custodians, unused but to be waved in front of the younger generation as a token of some bygone age.
The eBooks, like printing presses, make books cheap and disposable, easy for commoners like us to acquire. Very few people could get their hands on the works of Thomas Acquinas six hundred years ago, as all books were not printed but written then, but now anyone can.
I personally do like holding and reading a physical book. The current generation of eBooks are a clumsy alternative.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-03-31 03:39 am (UTC)And when he says "we", who does he mean? Did he let you touch it, hold it, read it? Does it sit on the library shelf along with the others? I suspect not. Six centuries from now, any surviving e-Books will be sitting in storage, cared for by a handful of custodians, unused but to be waved in front of the younger generation as a token of some bygone age.
The eBooks, like printing presses, make books cheap and disposable, easy for commoners like us to acquire. Very few people could get their hands on the works of Thomas Acquinas six hundred years ago, as all books were not printed but written then, but now anyone can.
I personally do like holding and reading a physical book. The current generation of eBooks are a clumsy alternative.