Books in The Digital Age

Books In The Digital Age

An Essay

by

Clayton Medeiros

Books In The Digital Age

There will never be a definitive answer to what a book is or is not. The discussion, like so many others, will go on and on. Keith Smith, the book designer, talks about making your first book. Take a piece of paper, fold it in half and you have made your first book. When you open it the right hand page is a verso and the back of that page is a recto. It is called a one fold book.

There is a human desire to keep things simple by posting arguments in black and white terms as if the pure negative or pure positive would bludgeon the opposing side into silence if not acquiescence. In the worlds of politics, religion and the arts, meaningful, successful black and white distinctions are a rarity. Such arguments are intrinsically flawed. They go against common sense and the human condition in all of its endless variation. We will have either, or and both when it comes to the future of books.

Digital books have not found their own lexicon. They are unlikely to be able to significantly differentiate themselves from printed books. We still use the terms that we have applied to bound pages for generations. We will always have printed books written by individual authors, read by individual readers along with books written by groups and written by computers.

There is an aesthetic to holding a book while reading it. In my own case, the added love of underlining and making notes adds to the satisfaction. I put page markers in the books so that I can find my notes in the future. We will also continue to have printed books because they are objects of beauty that will be collected and hoarded. There is still a robust market for first editions, beautifully printed, limited edition books, hand made editions and hand printed artist’s editions.

Books have always been both private and social. As soon as there were books, they were read silently to oneself and they were read out loud to others. The social networking of books and reading will not replace the private enterprise of reader and writer nor will it replace families and friends enjoying reading aloud to one another. It is an addition to possibility rather than a replacement of one thing for another.

We will always have endless diversity in digital books with infinite variety in authorship, readership and individual and group marginalia. Printed and digital preferences will interact with one another. A participant in a social reading process may chose to print or store a version of the book and associated commentary at a point that appears seminal to them.

Criticism and comments will take place through blogs, in social media groups and, individual critics will still produce essays with or without the opportunity for others to comment. Book club members will continue to gather in homes, coffee houses and bars to talk about books. Books in all their historic and current variations will continue to be with us.

Clayton Medeiros April 2013