A Discussion of Whether or Not Books Have a Future
Emergence of New Technologies
The introduction and continued emergence of technologies continues to shape education systems and the reading habits. Electronic means of communication are the major causes of change in trends that have continued to shape the future of technology. People have continued to change with time and adapt to new needs that arise in our society. As the internet continues to be integrated into peoples lives so does reading patterns and habits of people change (Anderson 2006). The media used in the writing determine to a large extend the manner in which transfer of material could be done. Writing skills and the medium of transfer of information have been determined by the emergence of internet. While most internet users have continued to become more proficient at writing, the use of online books has greatly replaced the hard forms of writing (Boczkowski 2004). This paper analyzes the different form that books have taken and the actual future of books in the modern world.
Digital Revolution and Books Usage
The digital revolution revolves around the usage of various technologies in an effort to change the manner in which a number of processes are carried out in the modern world. The digital revolution has the potential to change a number of existing industries in several ways in which different technological developments have been unable to. Indeed the digital revolution has altered the reading culture through the transformation of the media through which books are relayed to the intended readers.
With the coming of several new technologies, there has been an anticipation that books may come to an end. Just like the music industry which has undergone a number of transformations, it is anticipated that books will also change in order to suit the ever changing lifestyle (Robert 2001). Publication of books could also be altered in order to ensure that the published books are now relayed through digital means rather than the use of paper for printing. The development of Sony eBook reader and the Amazaons Kindle, though likely to bring some change in the books arena, may never lead to total eradication of the use of books in the future.
Technology and Its Role in Books Future
Technologies normally use a number of tools in order to ensure that certain goals are achieved. The manner in which technology transforms the way of life greatly affects the way of life. Various forms of implementation of technology normally influence the values which are associated with a given technology (Boczkowski 2004). Efficiency and effectiveness of new technologies lead to the use of books in different formats through which books are currently being used in the modern world.
Books
A book is traditionally considered to be a collection or set of written, illustrated, blank sheet or printed material that could either be made of parchments or paper or other forms of materials that are normally fastened together to hinge on one side. A single sheet in the traditional definition of books is normally referred to as a leaf while each side of a leaf is always referred to as a page. However, technology has resulted in the production of books in electronic formats which can easily be transformed to different formats. Books transformed in different formats are normally referred to as electronic books (eBooks).
On the other hand, any form of written material that has been put on paper can be referred to as a book. This is because it is the printed material, when bound together, that form a book. The major division of written literature is also normally referred to books. There is normally little consideration of the actual content of the written material when defining what constitute a book in the modern world.
It is therefore very evident that books come in different formats. It is not necessary for whatever is considered to a book to be in paper form. For instance, some books could in the soft copy format while others could in hard copy formats. It is however not possible to have a book that is not yet written (Anderson 2006). Until a concept is put down on paper, then it could not be possible to consider it as being a book or not. This is mainly because conceptual ideas could be easily altered and the meanings derived from them constantly changed in order to ensure that it fits the needs of the intended users and the perceived writers.
Brief History and Likely Future of Books
In order to properly understand what the future of books is and understand whether or not they actually have a future, it is in order to ensure that the history of books is brought into focus. The history of books and their future greatly relies on the continued innovations being made in the various technological innovations. The writing system was a major innovation that started in the ancient civilizations. Greeks for instance made a huge contribution to the use of writing in their attempt to preserve their culture for the future generations.
Stones, trees, walls, clay, animals skins, metal sheets and the human bodies are some of the surfaced which were utilized as writing materials in the ancient days. In the 1800 BC, there was the emergence of the alphabetic writing in the Egyptian republic. Papyrus, a plant that was commonly found along the Nile River, was mainly used for writing on during the early stages of the emergence of writing (Birkerts 1994). Initially, writing did not exhibit any form of punctuation since words were never separated from each other.
According to the available historic materials, the Phoenicians brought writing and the use of papyrus to Greece around ninth or tenth century BC. Later on, codes were introduced into the writing culture in order to easily identify the written material and ensure that consistency and easy identification of the written material was easily done.
Long before printing came into existence, books used to be written and their copying done through rewriting by hand. This consumed a lot of time, energy and other related resources. The pace at which the reproduction of the books was done was very slow leading to the urgent need for other new technologies to be employed in order to adequately fulfill the then ever increasing need for written materials. Books were also very costly to produce and expensive to purchase (Boczkowski 2004 Thompson 2005). In Greece for instance, artificial light was manly forbidden due to the fear that it could to a greater extend damage the manuscripts that were considered to be very costly at the time.
Later on, the production of books became a very significant practice in Rome. The writing culture was used in the preservation of culture, communication and transfer of power. Books were early censored from the political and religious perspective. Through the utilization of books, political powers and religious views were communicated to the target people with the intention of ensuring communication to the target audience is made with a perceived long lasting impact. One such evidence of how books were utilized included the Library of Alexandria which was created by the Ptolemy Sorter and later set up by the Demetrius Phalereus.
Conservation of books is crucial since it helps in ensuring that books exist in the future in order for them to serve the intended meaningful purpose. For the Monk community for instance, reading was a very vital culture which ensured conservation of culture (Darnton 1999). Prayers by the monks, intellectual work and enhancement of manual labor were done and the vital practices conserved through manuscripts which were produced at the time. However, preservation of books was not purely based on the need to preserve the ancient culture. For most religious practices, the culture of writing was utilized in ensuring that certain specific religious practices were past to the next generations without alteration of the context and meaning of the actual message being done. This was aimed at sustaining the cultural beliefs and social practices of the cultures of the ancient people.
Despite the many efforts put into place to conserve books and other related religious materials, Edwards, Armstrong, and Lonsdale (2002, pp.200-230) argues that books in some regions were normally destroyed in the order of Diocletian. It was the Monasteries that actually conserved the various religious texts that existed at the time. The many books that existed were based on the political battles which were being fought and the ideologies of the governments.
Traditionally, copyright issues and patent rights never existed and in situation where such a perception did exist, no emphasis was laid to the actual implementation. The emergence of the copyright issues, though having ensured that the authors of the books benefit from their materials, resulted into a slow pace of books development. Never the less, the emergence of internet and technology results into a change of platform through which written materials are exchanged.
Conservation of Books
For anything to have any long term impact to the lives of people there is need to make proper consideration to its expected and the actual lifespan. Books have been conserved in different formats and forms. Libraries and government archives have been the greatest reservoirs that have been utilized in the conservation of books. Conservation of books plays an important role in ensuring that long after the authors of the books have pass on, the ideas they put into writing can still be accessed and then utilized in a number of forms. At times codes are assigned to the books in order to ensure that the reserved materials can be easily accessible for use. Sometimes are books totally destroyed in the world due to them being obsolete (Thompson 2005). There are a few instances in which books have been burned and all the evidence of the ideas and views of the author destroyed. This commonly happen in very controversial circumstances in which the ideas conveyed in the books causes a number of disagreements. Such circumstances are normally based on the political, racial perspectives, religious beliefs and practices, and cultural practices that tend to convey bias views of a given community or the entire society.
Conservation of books is however crucial in ensuring that the books are fully or at least partially available for future use. Conservation of books also ensures that the writing style and culture of the author are reserved and the specific uniqueness clearly identified. Indeed different works done by authors from diverse sections of the globe always lead to perfection of the work done and enhancement of the quality of materials to be done.
Upgrading of the books is sometimes in order to ensure that the materials being conserved is made to fully reflect the changing times. As period in which the materials were written changes, so does the actual materials that are being written in reference to the environment and people in which the written materials were intended for use. Upgrading of books ensures that relevance of the message is maintained. Different styles of writing are altered in order to fully reflect the manner in which the current lifestyle actually is (Edwards, Armstrong, and Lonsdale 2002, pp. 200-230). Whenever upgrading of books is done, the referencing styles normally changes while other facts are modified. This ensures that the written material truly reflects the current trends, living styles and the reader needs that mainly change with the changing times.
The continued desire for more flexible and portable books has also resulted in the need to change the writing styles, fonts being used and the actual medium through which certain materials are written. Portable continues to be a very strategic factor that enhances the need for change in the modern writing techniques. The need to produce more portable materials always lead to writing of material in simpler yet less detailed language. This help to drastically reduce the number of works and hence a much smaller version of the book is produced.
Upgrading of the content therefore enhance the relevance of the materials and ensure that the changes in culture, political practices and technological changes are put into consideration in ensuring that the written materials fully reflect the current life style and the needs of the majority. Additionally, production of new editions of books helps in ensuring that the new editions contain new contents that may have been omitted in the previous technologies. Such conservation strategies help in ensuring that new theories and relevant concepts are also integrated in the new editions.
At times there is need to customize the previously written material in order to reflect the needs of a specific group of people. In order to elongate the lifespan of the books, change in the languages is always done. The alteration of the languages helps the audience to easily understand the written materials. Since communication is a very fundamental tool in ensuring that the lifespan of books is made longer, customizing the books, its language and certain details ensures that the materials become friendlier to the target audience. Interpretations of the languages also help the books to fully fit into the needs of the people (Jeff 2008). For a very long period, the problem of alteration of the intended message has been reported. Some interpreters of the books always change the actual meaning and ideas of the authors leading to lose of the message of the author. At times such misinterpretation leads to total loose of ideas and the message may end up not having any meaning or value. Interpretation of books is normally done with an in-depth consideration of the culture, religion and social perspectives of the people in a given community or region being targeted by the new editions of books.
Furthermore, the media and format of the books is also altered with an intention of ensuring that the future of the book is protected. Mediums such as the CD-ROM (Compact Dist Read Only Memory), DVD-ROM (Digital Video Disk Read Only Memory), tapes, and memory cards, among other mediums help in ensuring that portability and flexibility of books is enhanced in order to suit the ever changing needs of a given a people.
Future of Books in Accordance to their Contents
Fiction and the nonfiction books could have a very different future. With continued change in cultures and peoples continued attempts to seek for the truth, the nonfiction books continues to take a centre stage in the areas of ensure that more reliable and realistic materials are accessed. At times books are categorized as either fictitious or non fictitious books based on their contents. Even though they are very appealing, fictitious books tend to rely mainly on peoples perceived truth about life(Jenkins 2006). Novels are the most common category of fictitious books. On the other hand, most scientific books are not fictitious. They contain static contents that do not change over time unless specific theories are formulated in order to prove the scientific truths as being wrong. The future of non fictitious contents is normally ensured through the continued advancement of the material. Such materials are important as they determine the future happenings and developments based on their contents. They provide reliable information rather than providing of stories which may or may not be true.
Artistic books also do not last for long due to the continued changes that occur in the modern world. Technologies sometimes render certain artistic work to only reflect certain truths based on a specific content. To ensure that books stay for a much longer duration, it is crucial that the current technological changes are fully embraced. From the past studies carried out on the future of books, it is very evident that the future of books, to a greater extent, depends on various stakeholders embracing new technologies in ensure to have backup of the hard copy materials.
New technologies have resulted into a very sudden revolution of the unique ways through which books are transformed from the paper books to digital formats that are more reliable, effective, efficient, durable and more portable. This generally reduces the cost of production of books (Joseph Clayton 2005, pp.23-53). Embracing new technologies revolutionize the books and demand that people who intend to enjoys the benefits accrued from books understand the importance and significance of books based on very unique formats that does exist in the world.
Digital revolution
Books continue to have a much stronger future compared to the trend that has been experienced in the past. Emergences of new technologies and new exchange platforms have continued to transform the platform on which books have continued to be exchange. Google for instance provide a better platform through which eBooks are exchanged and free resources accessed. Digital revolutions have made it possible for books to be translated into digital format. Electronic books (eBooks) therefore continue to necessitate the need for more information to be availed in order to ensure that better accessed of books is enhanced.
Digital formats of books also enhance easy transfer of information. Even though there are a number of challenges associated with the use of digital formats of books, the benefits always overweigh the problems and risks associated with books and other formats.
Digitization of books ensures that a more reliable and much stronger form of books does exist. Online backup, back up of books on hard disks and on other storage devices and online backup enables the information being store to be available for future use (Thompson 2005). This also ensures that back up could be done on hardcopy materials. Such forms of storage ensure that there exists proper storage of information that adequately caters for any emergency.
In cases where there is any destructions made on the digital materials, backed up information enhances better security of information. The future of books seem to depend on the fact that storage of information is much easier as much less space is required for storage of books in the digital formats (Birkerts 1994).
Online Marketing of Books
To ensure that more publishers and authors are encouraged to continue investing in the books production sector, it has been made possible to ensure that online sales of the written materials take place. Books published can now be sold online thus ensuring that the authors get their dues. Online payment methods and sales points ensure that potential clients purchase and pay for books online. Credit and wireless payment systems have also been facilitated thus ensuring those transactions between customers and the owners of the books.
The authors of the books sold online get paid whenever people purchase the books. Online sales companies market and sale the books on behalf of the authors. The authors are sometimes given free online spaces on websites for marketing of other products which they could be having. Different website Materials have integrated web links have for a very long time been used in the sales and advertisement of books through various online systems. Ad-sell points and popup menus are also used in ensuring that online books are adequately advertised in order to reach the intended clients.
Online Books
Internet accessed books that are found online are normally allow easy reading of books without pay. This gives the readers an opportunity to have an insight into the actual contents of the books being sold. This is normally used as a tool for luring the customers to purchase the books as they become assured of its quality of the contents of the books. Online books enable the sales angle to have an international perspective to the sales strategy being employed.
Generally speaking, electronic transfer of books greatly facilitates the use and future existence of books. This is because of the many benefits associated with electronic books. To begin with, availability is greatly enhanced through the use of electronic books thus enhancing their access facilitation of books. By August 2009, the number of books available through online sources was approximately two million. Mobile data connection has also facilitated the access and availability of books thus making it much easier for the books to be accessed. This has ensured that the traditional way of access of books that could have led to extinction of books is replaced with more reliable and accessible method of accessing books.
Storage and Portability of books is another great impact of the electronic books that has continued to ensure that books exist in the near future. Birkerts (1994) believes that many copies of electronic formats of books could be contained in a small size of an electronic reader. The storage capacities thus ensure that as many copies as possible are store in a smaller space thus saving on the physical space that could otherwise have been used. Indeed e-book collection of books takes up very little space due to various compression technologies that help in minimizing the storage capacities to much greater extents.
Language accessibility and flexibility in the electronic books facilitates easy understanding of the materials written regardless of the cultural practices, race, tribe or the language preferences of the readers. There is currently electronic websites which enable translation of books from one language to the other (Joseph Clayton 2005, pp.23-53). When purchasing books through the online systems, the customers are given the rare privilege of choosing the preferred language they would wish to have the books in. This is however not a common phenomenon in the books marketing industry.
Ease of distribution of the electronic materials as opposed to the physical transfer of the printed materials. It is much easier for the authors of electronic books to publish and carry out sales and marketing of their books through online systems. Dispersion of online books for free normally stimulates the sales and marketing process of the printed books written by the same authors or which have a common theme. Availing some books for free to customers is therefore a marketing strategy meant to endear readers to some authors or certain themes or topics. Unlike the purchase of printed books which the buyer has to go to the bookshops, an electronic book can be purchased and downloaded then read within a very short time using a brief process. There is normally no time wasted waiting for the delivery of books to be done.
There is an ever increasing need to ensure that production of books does not cause any harm to the environment. To facilitate the achievement of this goal, the use of online and electronic production and sale of books ensures that the environmental concerns are fully addressed. Ink and paper is conserved when electronic books are utilized (Thompson 2005). This encourages the usage of more books that ensuring that more people are encouraged to read, purchase, write, and to download books without concern of the dangers that would be posed by the production of printed books. Electronic books are also much cheaper to produce. The usage of backup systems in the production of books ensures that more books are produced.
New forms of Book Libraries
The new dimensions of which books have continued to take have resulted into better and more flexible forms of exchanging and storage of books. New libraries used to store books and books related materials ensure that only relevant information that regards books is provided. This is crucial as it ensures that the needs of readers and other stakeholders are fully catered for. In order to ensure that books remain relevant in the information sector, new library services provide both printed and digitized books. The flexibility provided by the new libraries ensures that the users are given a wide variety of offers that suits their diverse needs.
Improvise storage systems in libraries have provided very new platform over which new information is easily accessed over the internet. Moreover, new library management systems provide platforms for accessing information via internet. User accounts are created through which eligible and authorized users can access books that are made available through the system. Such improvised electronic systems enable the users to continuously access crucial information and ensure that the information is availed in time (Birkerts 1994).
Digital rights management ensures that only legitimate books materials are published. Such measures have been used in ensuring that only authorized resources are exchanged by the users. Such management measures provide proper strategies over which the owners of the digitally available books can be paid so that they cater for their expenditures and other needs in order to boost their writing and publishing profession. Various encryption strategies, some of which uses passwords and encryption standards, which uses digital signatures have emerged in an effort to ensure that the security of the electronic books is enhanced. This help in th reduction of fraudulent cases.
The emergence of new technologies such as library management systems and accessibility of booking through various websites and platforms such as the Google Books platform ensures that scarce resources are shared among members. The new technologies which provide the ability to share resources enable the users to fully utilize the scarce and costly resources. In some cases, the users collaborate in catering for the huge costs of books after which they may decide to duplicate the books into several copies. Even though approach is considered to be illegal, many users have employed it in their attempt to access books that may be very costly yet very crucial. Easy access of information to students, lecturers and other users in schools, universities and other tertiary collages have motivated the learner to have a reading culture in the learning institutions.
New Technologies for Books Production and the Future Books
From the above analysis that regards the future of books, it can be argued that the continued emergence of new technologies have resulted in the development of better platforms over which books would continue to be produced and used. The major difference however is the fact that new technologies have changed the usage of books from the commonly used printed versions of books to the electronic formats (Joseph Clayton 2005, pp.23-53). Electronic formats therefore closely integrate the usage of printed formats and the use of digital signatures in order to enhance security.
Despite the many changes that may occur in the books production arena, it is evident that the new technologies have been in the front line in ensuring that books continue to thrive. Various social sites have also witnessed new trends of sharing books. Rather than continuing to borrow books from the libraries and purchasing books from books shops, people have invented new methodologies of sharing information (Kremer 1993, pp.600-715). The likely future trends of books could be fully exchange of the books through electronic means.
Video and audio technologies would also, in the near future, dominate the books exchange platforms. Audio information is easily understood and could enhance the comfort of ensuring that only specific sections of books are recorded based on the needs of the client. The utilization of such technologies facilitates better understanding. Since some books use complex languages and vocabularies whose meaning may not be easy to decipher, the use of audio recording facilitates better understanding of the books.
Additionally, the future of books could result into acting of some scenes which when combined with audio sound would better convey the message intended. This trend has already started being put in action. Currently, most authors of fictitious books such as novels encourage acting of the scenes of the books through live performances on stage (Pearson 2002). Such an approach fully facilitates easy understanding of complex issue that would otherwise be difficult to understand if the material would simply be read.
Integration of mass media in the usage and marketing of books would also contribute to a greater extend into the usage of books. In future, the integration of books into various broadcasting methods could facilitate the acceptance of the fact that books can never be replaced by integration of information over the internet. Even though the reading culture of printed books tends to continuously decrease, it is evident that online resources and other electronic sources of books continue to dominate the market. People have continued to integrate new technologies into their lives thus making it necessary for the existing printed books to be transformed into electronic formats (Boczkowski 2004). Challenges that currently face the integration of electronic means into peoples reading lives include security, confidentiality, lack of authenticity, copyright and patent issue and problems of non repudiation. Excessive investment in enhancing security reduces the economic benefit of the books to the authors. Moreover, not everybody understands how the exiting new technologies are used. Thus could be a great hindrance to the efforts to ensure that the future of books is ensured.
Conclusion
The above arguments provide adequate evidence that even though technology continues to transform the manner in which books are used it is not practical to imagine that books will ever get out of existence. Instead of books being wiped out of existence, new technologies would basically provide a new platform over which books would exist. One such platform and dimension which would be taken take on the future of books is the integration of technology into the writing system. Electronic books (eBooks) would in the future ensure that books are mainly accessed over the internet. This would make is more flexible and pleasant to read than when reading the printed versions of books. New library management systems would also ensure that books are managed and accessed in more flexible and reasonable manner. Sharing of books through electronic means and library management systems that enhances sharing of books would also dominate the manner in which books are used in future. It is therefore clear that regardless of the formats in which books would exist, they still have a very strong future.
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