The problem with trying to reinvent the book is that it has been in existence for a very long time in its current form and style. There are doubtless many reasons why this has been the case. Whether we want to believe it or not, the reason I am confident the electronic version won’t replace the book is for me it seems like there is a place and tiny piece of the book now engrained in our very beings in our lives and we are continually reminded of it through history. Perhaps I can go as far to say that there is a piece of books now encoded in our data and living with in our bodies. I’d say it is a similar type of relationship book-human as keeping a pet. How would we feel if we replaced our pet dogs with a robot dog, just because it made life easier?
Pets have become important to humans, to both species that we now have created strong ties to certain animals, we have altered our biology maybe accidentally but not insignificantly to feel connections and make relationships with pets. Whether this has happened or not with books I can not say, but it feels like it may be similar in many ways. For this reason no matter how good the replacement electronic versions, unless the replacements are exactly the same (defying reason for change) or they can in some way replicate the same relationships, then we will feel like we are loosing some important connection. Not succeeding is not a failure, the fact they fail will be a victory for books. To reach this conclusion the experiment was necessary, the inevitable outcome would not be possible any other way. Personally I will be happy, for as much as I am excited about modern technology, I am keen to keep traditions that add value and meaning to our lives, and nice paper books are the best.
