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Leo Genazzano

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Can and will books ever be replaced by something other than we know it today?

Can books become completely intangible? Can the "feeling" of a book change with its texture? From clay tablet to papyrus to manuscript to book: will the book morph into something new?

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Topics: book ebook ebooks manu
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Closing Statement from Leo Genazzano

This brainstorming session focused on the the question "Can and will books ever be replaced by something other than we know them today?". I was surprised to find a diverse collection of answers, many of them thought provoking, insightful, or just plain cool. Go on, take a glance.

For those who are interested to see some more "brain-picking" answers, I recommend Amir Azizi Sarajy, Don Stewart, Mary M, Stuart Woods 's work.

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    Nigel Bamber

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    Apr 9 2012: What happens if you take a Kindle to a book signing?
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      Ken brown 30+

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      Apr 9 2012: That is rather funny.I wonder if 60 years from now we will wax over the virtues of the kindle and how it smells.

      The problem is is that you can't beat a book.
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        Nigel Bamber

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        Apr 9 2012: My problem is my house, my garage, my storage lock-up are all full of books. And that's just the ones I plan to refer to or read again. Love books but out of space!

        • Lewis Carolan

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          Apr 9 2012: i think that's amazing. but how do you find the one you want ? do you know where they all are ?
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          Ken brown 30+

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          Apr 9 2012: LoL you need to open your own library or seek digital versions.
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        Nigel Bamber

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        Apr 9 2012: Started transferring to digital only for all my work about 7 years ago, but have lots of legacy hard copies that are difficult to incorporate into the system. Use a computer based index for the hard copies.
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          Ken brown 30+

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          Apr 10 2012: Yes that's a major problem,today's drives are tomorrows legacy drives.I think the IDE drives have a life expectancy of ten years?SSD's 5 years? A book much longer.Even storing online is a risk,look what happened to Capathia's servers when Kim Dotcom was arrested,now all that data will be wiped.

          I think the future of physical storage will be through nanotech so that we could have a book that looks exactly like a natural book but instead is a mass storage unit,Sci-Fi-ish but take a look at the next generation of memchips below.

          http://scitechdaily.com/transparent-memory-chips-the-next-step-in-memory-storage/
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      Emo Bear 30+

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      Apr 10 2012:  
       
      A more important question: why does celebritism still affect you? If you like an author's book, then sure, meet the person, ask him or her questions that weren't answered or explained in the book. Talk to him or her about related topics. But getting his or her autograph? That just seems silly to me, like a rock band groupie-type of activity.
       
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        Nigel Bamber

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        Apr 10 2012: I don't think of authors as celebrities, but as someone who has shared their thoughts with me. Signing the book gives the book itself a more intimate connection with the person whose ideas it contains. Signed books in general seem to have a certain aura. Have an aeronautics text book that was owned by Frederick Handley-Page (a pioneer aircraft designer) that he signed. Have a family bible signed by members of each generation of my family since 1879.

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