Open discussion: How will digitization change your life?

The Kindle is great--but it doesn't hold a candle (literally), to staying up, at night, with a light of pleasing ambiance, and experiencing a deeper interaction with a book.

If the book is profound, inspirational, entertaining and/or dramatic or suspenseful--the opportunity to hold that book, therefore, is to embrace the impact of the writing even more.

These comments, above, are not necessarily from a Luddite who lives in the past and is afraid of change.  Instead, they come from someone who claims that newer generations (because of what is promoted to them) suffer from a deficit of appreciation--of what a binder, a dust jacket, special typography, and the printed word are truly all about.

I prefer a book to reading on a computer. I like my Zune but do not like mp.3 downloads--CD, please, for a back up and to listen to in my vehicle. 

My major negative concern is that a printed document has been protected from modification by the simple fact that it was printed on paper.  Thus, we can point to the Declaration of Independence  and read the words as penned by our founders.  To modify that document and all copies would be next to impossible.

Not so for an article published in Wikipedia, for example.  It is fluid, and subject to change and tomorrow, when I read that article, it might be different than when I read it today.

Another problem I have with the information ocean, is in finding a document the second time, if I havn't book-marked it.  Microsoft One-Note and even copy to my pc are rather awkward techniques to capture the data, but the data in context may be what I want so I can continue with following a hot-link trail.

Then too, I suspect that I'm the only one who has a problem with this.

It's almost like the transition we went thru in trying to convert from punched cards to floppy disks.  Many of my customers wanted those cards, because they could see the holes in the cards, and actually read each character if they wanted to.

Wow, I guess I'm an artifact of the beginning of the computer age - I remember what 9 edge, face down means.

Robert, you're definitely not the only person who has had the problem of refinding things after not bookmarking them. I’m definitely guilty. Also, you’re right, written documents do have a sense of permanence to them lacking in the electronic world. Amazon, however, does control the majority of the content for Kindles and the network over which it is downloaded. (I recognize there’s always a possibility someone could hack into that… ) What do you make of that?

WS R., you say you don’t like mp3 downloads and prefer CDs in your car. In what situations do you prefer to use your Zune? Anyone else have situations in which they prefer one format of media over another? Why?

I use my Zune when I take walks, hook it to speakers in the kitchen when I'm in there, use it to tune out the kids...oops, did I say that out loud? I actually don't use my Zune as much as my husband does. He takes his to work and plays it all day quietly in  his office.

What makes those situations more conducive to using your Zune, WS R.? (aside from the kitchen speakers meant for the Zune) Portability? Versatility?

Any thoughts at all about potential alteration of written works? Is the content Amazon provides secure enough? What about other content?

What about the question of pricing, especially in today’s economy? On a Kindle, one can purchase a book for $10.00, sometimes a classic for as little as $1.99. This compared to bookstore prices often reaching $20.00 or more. Thoughts on that?

Price doesn't enter into the equation when it comes to books. I dont' really care that a book for the Kindle only costs $1.99. I like books. I like the way they feel in my hand. They're like a good friend. When Robert Jordan's latest Wheel of Time book comes out Nov. 3, I will buy it--$25 more than likely.  For the Kindle I'm sure it will be less--but the pleasure I get from the actual book will be far more than looking at a screen.

Well said.

as someone who reviews music and books, I prefer the hard copy. digital excerpts are often okay as ways to introduce a project or an artist, and gauge interest (but people need to *ask* first if this is acceptable) but to explore and evaluate a CD or book, I prefer a tangible copy.

I'd also suggest that the world is not always online 24/7.  nor wants to be. good old face to face contact is also still important for shairng ideas.

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Congratulations!

Julia, as a Librarian I find that digitization has ALREADY changed my work life substantially. The day of Reader's Guide to periodical literature, when we depended on paper indices to access paper articles in a cumbersome process intensive both in time and in labor, is gone. Now most research in magazines and journals is done through full-text databases. Librarians and libraries still exist, as they still are useful as mediators and teachers between the human and the information.

I am not going to claim that the new reality is superior to the old in every respect. The internet sometimes tends to "dumb down" research. We need to understand that peer-reviewed articles carry more authority than "Bill's basement website on Korean politics", because we have no indication that Bill knows what he is talking about. Blogging is not always journalism.

Nothing magical about paper. Paper was a great invention, and digital is not always better. We do however still need to preserve archives, so that history will still exist. We get into such issues every time we reach the end of a Presidency, as someone realizes that he does not want to preserve the bad stuff along with the good.

so, just wondering...how long do you all think before kindles really start to catch on? it sounds like there will always be a certain contingency of traditional book lovers, so will it require the maturation of a younger generation? those people, however, are also traditional book lovers. the ipod and other mp3 players seem to have already caught on. what do you think?

Reading album covers! Better yet! Reading the LP sleeves!