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Remember CDs? I don’t think I have bought one since 2001, and now that I have an iPhone, iPod, iTunes, there’s no need to ever buy a CD again. One could argue there’s not much need to buy music either, since I spend more time listening online to Pandora or Blip.fm anyways.
So what will happen to books? I wonder if the publishing industry will meet the same fate as the music industry. I still buy printed books — but many people I know have switched over to the Kindle, and Kindle readers buy two to three times as many books as book readers. Or they’re just ditching books altogether and getting their reading from blogs and online magazines and news sites.
Working on the LWM social media team has been interesting because we’re essentially trying to use social media to promote and sell more copies of a print book, which is an interesting concept when you think about it. It’s harder to get people’s attention for a book when people are too busy to read any more and prefer to get their news and information in 30-second bits rather than long-form reporting and writing. And we’re trying to use social media, the very thing that’s contributing to the decline of longer-form writing and journalism, to do that.
So my question is: what will happen to books? Do you still buy books? Will actual hard copy books go the way of the CD?
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Comments
11.03.09
Sigh. This topic is a sad one for me. I LOVE books. I like the way they look on shelves, and I love the idea of passing one along to a friend, with all of your underlines and highlighting intact. I know this is a romantic idea, but I myself have also been curious about e-readers - specifically The Nook, Barnes & Noble's new device.
For me, books are the one part of my hobbies that is not digitalized (besides running - unless you count the Nike+ shoes and ipod...) so I want to remain a reader.
I would love to hear other's thoughts. Great topic!
11.03.09
The quick answer to your question is "nothing will really happen to books." This is similar to what people thought back when books on tape first came out, yet they found a way to coexist without the death of the printed word. It's similar to how every few years we're told that the death rattle of newspaper/magazines/radio/TV is coming because of the Internet. Provided a medium can adapt to new technology or maintain its audience, it will stay around.
And besides, a good portion of books are bought because people just want to look smart (http://su.pr/1YwZ58). And a full bookshelf displays that message much better than a kindle sitting on your desk.
Side note: I just bought a CD today, but that might be because it ended up being cheaper than on iTunes.
11.04.09
Until you can read e-books without specialized technology, electrical power and in a universal format, hardcopy books will be around and will thrive.
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