Digitalization of Books: A vision or an illusion?
Ever since the introduction of the digital world in our analog world, no one knew that this was going to be the next big thing. Something that would change our lives for real, and for good. The pioneers of the digital world had envisioned something even more ambitious than me running an election for the next election for the post of the President of the United States of America: The replacement of paperbacks and hardcovers by e-books, or in short, the digitalization of the book industry.Now, now, I find it rather amusing because such replacement would never happen, not in my lifetime yet, I guess. There are always pros and cons for both consumers and the industry, fairly simple. So, now, I am going to start with the pros and cons for the book industry first. Note that I had only quote a few points because I find that I can rant non-stop on this issue.
In the book industry, its major obstacles are the costs of shipping, printing and the weight of the book versus its pact information or storyline. With the introduction of something called e-book, these issues can be overcome because an e-book can travel around the world from a few minutes to a day, depending on your connection speed. There is no paper involved, so of course, the printing cost is abolished with a thumbs up for a greener environment (less trees chopped down). Plus, consumers would not complain about the weight of the book if it comes in the form of a CD or it could be converted in a handy PDF format which allow us to install on our mobile devices.
On the other hand, publishing an e-book will cost more in another sense, because one would generate less revenue from the sales. Piracy is so rampant and worse than us using the invention of Mr Xerox, simply because the latter would cost more. Piracy of e-books is so rampant that I myself admit that I am involved with this practice. Torrents are everywhere for e-books of the more famous books. If someone like me ever lays his hands on the digital version of this book, it would be passed down to at least 200 more people at no cost(If you exclude the downloading time and transferring time). And of course, the number is limited provided the 200 people would not pass the copy out of the community circle. Thus, the publisher would have to put up a higher price tag for each e-book they sell, maybe twice or thrice the value of the book in either its paperback or hardcover version. So, in order to go round this issue, they would perhaps need to create an online resource center which would require online subscription, available for a monthly subscription fee. But admit it, who is willing to pay for that extra monthly fee when a one-time payoff is much more worth it in a paperback version. Not many would do so, and it can be seen from such resource web pages around and not many could survive through popularity.
On the aspect of the consumer, the pros would involve some cons of the industry. That is the reality, as one would benefit out of the expense of the other. E-books would become so affordable when piracy is practised. This would be good, promoting techno-savviness among the younger generation. I myself find an e-book handy because I can print out selected pages for my PBL resources and a quick browse would be even much easier. Well, for those tech-savvy, you can put the PDF files in your mobile devices such as PDAs and read while on the move. A pdf version is always lighter than a 6-pounds book. Even for certain professionals like doctors, it would be handy to refer to the files in a PDA rather than carrying a big book in front of your patient! Plus, it looks cool too! The downside? You can't highlight the text manually, with no human touch. Those side notes that you are always used to write and stick in on the book, is long gone. The fact that I have to stare at the screen straining my eyes if i have to study for long hours poring over countless information is not going to encourage me. Plus, unless you can afford a PDA or laptop which is more expensive than the book itself, e-books won't be mobile, because it would restrict you to computers only. You can't read a book leisurely in your dining room or TV hall. And what if you don't own a computer or have no internet access? Then it would be even more troublesome. The simple fact that the majority of us would not read on the move beats its very own benefit. That is because humans prefer to read at leisure while being relaxed, not while rushing to and fro work, of course. These problems was highlighted few years back when a friend of mine in the PDA field boasted on how he could read everything from the PDA and it would eliminate the usage of textbooks for me. Of course, I wouldn't take his words for it, because he himself had no interest in studying and his reading materials are merely Manga and English books merely suitable for a 10-year old kid.
So, my conclusion is that books and e-books would be nice if they go hand-in-hand. This would offer more choices for consumers and generate revenue of the book industry. I would just call them simbiosis. If you want a greener environment, just recycle your everyday paper. This would reduce the number of trees that we have to cut down to fulfill your zest of knowledge from books.
Dude... damn sien la all these articles... zzz!
sudah berpasang life sudah flat??
haha..
alamak..hidup nie mesti bertukar genre sikit.. wait la..i'm trying to write something to sharpen the other part of my brain..wait la till my end sem exam finish dey..
Heh, you probably won't expect me to read your blog. Anyways, reading is a VERY important part of life, from entertainment to education. For me, It is the "feeling" of paper vs electronic pixels that makes paper much more appealing. You mentioned straining your eyes, but its more than that. Reading onscreen is "hard", somehow I feel because of the way light is "produced" and "emitted" directly to your retinas, as opposed to letting another source reflect off the ink and paper. With that said, I am counting on e-paper, where the flexibility of content meets elegance of form and emotional appeal. Oh well so much for a comment, I used good spelling to ease reading :p