tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8771986852817302610.post4575325610776307054..comments2023-09-05T05:36:02.930-06:00Comments on .: The Future of BooksYsabeau Wilcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01684128551495819812noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8771986852817302610.post-43733451322318334662007-04-21T09:15:00.000-06:002007-04-21T09:15:00.000-06:00Welcome, Cake!All this put me in mind of the "Youn...Welcome, Cake!<BR/><BR/>All this put me in mind of the "Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" from Neal Stephenson's <I>Diamond Age,</I> which is one of my favorite high-tech books.<BR/><BR/>The comparison with mechanical watches is a telling one. Like such timepieces, I think books as we know and think of them today, and perhaps reading itself, will become luxury items or pursuits, geared toward connoisseurs or plain oddballs.<BR/><BR/>I'm not convinced that books with various tech bells and whistles are yet anything more than curiosities, however, and will remain so until the tech addition delivers valuable functionality instead of some flashy but soon-to-be outmoded gimmick that will render the book itself outmoded regardless of its textual content.Paul Witcoverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12471607385211158481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8771986852817302610.post-76882141764923952802007-04-20T14:58:00.000-06:002007-04-20T14:58:00.000-06:00Dear Sieur Cake: Have you hugged your patent atto...Dear Sieur Cake: <BR/><BR/>Have you hugged your patent attorney today? Seriously, what wonderful ideas! I'll remember I heard 'em here first. I hope some of these are put into practice SOON because I suspect they might inspire people who otherwise wouldn't dream of picking up a book to do so, and then maybe possibly hopefully even actually READ it. I'm horrified by how few people read fiction these days. Is it because recent generations seem to require more "visual aids" than the typical novel provides? I recently read Un Lun Dun with its leavening of groovy (albeit static) graphics and wondered if this is a hopeful wave of the future. Maybe books could have briefly-animated illustrations the reader could activate with a touch, kinda like those singing greeting cards. Or (if the author didn't want to impose on the reader's imagination with illustrations) maybe there could simply be beautiful abstract images at the beginning of each chapter, like those elaborate initials the monks used to do, and these could come alive in cool mesmerizing ways.Erika Hamerquisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09721599229029331587noreply@blogger.com