The Book That Contains All Books
That was the title of an excellent Wall Street Journal Oct 17-18, 2009 article by Stephen Marche in their "Culture Section". He points out on the following Monday Kindle2 will become the first e-reader available globally. The only other events as important to the history of the book are the birth of print and the shift from scroll to bound pages. That covers a lot of history so gives some idea of the importance our switch to Kindles has and will continue to be in the history of humankind's inherent need to read and record.
So, one wonders, just how long will it be before all of our shelves and shelves, piles and piles, buildings and buildings packed tight with printed words on paper just go the way of the ancient history scrolls and the Dodo Bird and vanish forever from our midst? I think I can safely say not in my lifetime and probably not even in my great great grandchildren's either. But if Predictor Stephen Marche is anywhere close, it's only a matter of when - not if. Something to ponder as you order up your latest $9.95 offerings from Amazon. Here today - gone tomorrow?
So, one wonders, just how long will it be before all of our shelves and shelves, piles and piles, buildings and buildings packed tight with printed words on paper just go the way of the ancient history scrolls and the Dodo Bird and vanish forever from our midst? I think I can safely say not in my lifetime and probably not even in my great great grandchildren's either. But if Predictor Stephen Marche is anywhere close, it's only a matter of when - not if. Something to ponder as you order up your latest $9.95 offerings from Amazon. Here today - gone tomorrow?
