Archiving eBooks
I came across this blog today and it brought up something I hadn't considered: as technology progresses, what happens to the e-books we purchased in (what will become) the older technologies? Will we still be able to access those books? One of the things I love about paper books is their very presence on the bookshelf. I may not have read them in years, but they are still as accessible today as the day I bought them. Not so for the box of audio tapes in my closet. It isn't the tapes themselves I have any fondness for, but the music they contain. So I'm willing to re-purchase music in a new format to regain access to it. In that case, it is clearly about the content. But I resist the same concept--even resent it--when it applies to books. Why?
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Liz,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic. I'm not sure I have a definitive answer, but I suspect the difference between books and music is that music has never existed in a concrete format that you can hold and collect. It's always had to be in a container of some sort, whether on records or as mp3s. I may not be pleased when I have to buy the digital versions of old cassettes to update my music library, but there's never been a better option. Whereas with books, we have had the luxury of the concrete object, and transitioning to this content in container idea is not easy.
I also find that I'm reluctant to buy e-books because there are so many formats out there, none of which are completely universal. I don't want to choose a specific e-reader and start buying up books in that device's native format because I'm afraid it will be made obsolete too quickly. Now that so many devices are available, I would like to see some narrowing down of file formats and wider support for some of the more popular/accepted ones. Then I'll look more seriously into making the switch.
I agree with Sarah that music has always existed in a more fluid format than books, so we're more accepting of major changes over time. For the most part, until very recently, books have existed in a basic codex format for ages. We're accustomed to the permanence of that format, and find it much harder to adapt to something new.
ReplyDelete-- Heather Walrath