Both of these articles bring into question the future of books. Now-a- days, people have so many choices of where they can buy books and how they prefer to read a book. People can buy the print copy of a book from a bookstore or online, they can also buy the e-book version from their computer, I-pad, cell phone,Kindle and so on.
The article “Publish or Perish” by Ken Auletta addresses some of the beginning concerns of the e-book: “The obstacle was that no one knew how e-books should be read. Computer screens weren’t portable enough, and for many readers cell phones were too small.”
This obstacle contrasts with those of the author of Eternal Dream who began writing her novel on her mobile phone. This presents a whole new kind of text that is growing immensely popular, the cell phone novel. The article “I (heart) Novels” explains that the author uploaded her book to a popular website where it gained readers attention; however, I do not think the cell-phone should be marked off completely as a medium in which readers can read texts from.
In our generation, cell-phones are like a life line in that we always have them on us and are constantly using them. Now think about the next generation, do you think they will mind both reading and writing texts from their cell-phones?
When people buy expensive cell-phones, such as the I-phone, they want it to do everything from searching the Internet, playing their music, and of course perform the normal functions of a cell phone such as dialing and receiving calls and texting. If the phone also comes with the capability of uploading books why wouldn’t iPhone owners use it? Eventually, more and more phones will come with this capability and more people will read books from their phones. With that said, marking off the cell phone as a medium in which books can be read is out of the question.
As we all know, books are used in schools everyday, and with books becoming more readily available on cell phones and iPads will these devices eventually be welcomed into the classroom? Another factor that may contribute to the use of these devices in the classroom is savings. A point made by Russ Grandinettie, the vice-president of Amazon made me think about what schools could save if using these devices: “Look at the price points of digital goods in other media. I read a newspaper this morning online, and it didn’t cost me anything. Look at the price of rental movies. Look at the price of music.” He also mentions the low prices of books.
Not only does Grandinettie mention money, but he also mentions time.
“The real competition here is not, in our view, between the hardcover book and the e-book,” he says. “TV, movies, Web browsing, video games are all competing for people’s valuable time. And if the book doesn’t compete we think that over time the industry will suffer.
I think it’s safe to say that Grandinettie is including students when he says people, which would make this relevant to us teachers. Grandinettie also suggests an idea in this article which I find extremely relevant to this class: “publishers have to reimagine the book as multimedia entertainment.”
The article presents some publishers who are already taking this idea seriously.
“David Rosenthal, the publisher of Simon & Schuster, says that his company is racing ‘to embed audio and video and other value-added features in e-books. It could be an author discussing his book, or a clip from a movie that touches on the book’s topic.’”
Not only have these books made me think about the future of books such as the composition of books and the mediums in which we can use books, but it also made me think about my stance as a future teacher. Will I use these devices in my classroom? Will I use e-books in my class instead of print one day? Will letting students compose work on their cell phones and collecting written work via text message, be acceptable when I am a teacher? Not only is the future of books in question here, but the future of teaching is as well.
Here are some links which relate to ideas presented in my blog:
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