| Is
There a Future for the Printed Book? |
The
Warren Adler E-Sheet 18
In
this issue:
| |
|
 |
Greetings
From Publishing Central
We
are happy to offer you another issue of
the Warren Adler E-Sheet, which
keeps you up to date on what is
happening in the author's world. We hope
you enjoy it. |
| |
|
The Future of the Printed Book
It may not be the sexiest subject to chew over in the dog days of summer, but the future of the printed book is quietly becoming one of those core issues whose ultimate outcome will profoundly impact our lives.
Festering beneath the radar, the issue is gaining momentum because of emerging technologies that are poised to burst upon the marketplace in the near future. While earlier predictions of vast changes in the electronic publishing and delivery of books have been over-optimistic, there is a sense that electronic publishing is gaining momentum.
A recent article by
David J. Stayley, an associate professor of history at Heidelburg College in Ohio in
The Futurist offers some interesting insights. He cites new technologies emerging from Xerox's PARC research lab called Gyricon, or
Smart Paper. A similar technology is being developed by E-Ink and Phillips Electronics.
It is a thin flexible, rubbery sheet made up of millions of small balls, black on one side and white on the other. When charged the balls that are rotated to the black side would make a mark on the remaining background. It would look something like an LCD screen, with a flexible surface rather than rigid, like a sheet of paper.
The "smart paper" could be bound in a book-like device with a "spine" that would hold electronic components. The device would actually look like a book, but hold numerous "books" that would also be capable of animated and pictorial content as well as text.
According to Professor Stayley, "a "smart paper" book would be as different from a printed book as the first printed books were from medieval manuscripts. But in physical tangible form a "smart paper" book would seem very familiar to a reader of a printed book."
The point is that the technology is coming. User-friendly devices are on their way. Yes, they will be wireless, easily transportable and controlled by the reader as to font size and clarity. Universities are already preparing for the day when students would be able to carry "books" for their entire course studies within a single wireless device. Academic and professional journals are, for the most part, already being published electronically.
As one who has been considered an unabashed "evangelist" for the author's perspective on the employment of electronic publishing as a career move, I naturally tend toward optimism about its future. Yes, it has been slower in coming than I imagined but I note from my sales reports that the curve is ever upward and I intend to stick with my bet.
And yet, I look upon the paper book as a mature lover might observe an old and aging sweetheart. The paper book, both as a writer and a reader, has been my one abiding passion, the feel of it, the smell of it, the tactile, visual and intellectual charge it gives me.
But then I loved the Brooklyn Dodgers, black and white movies and Alice Faye.
Western Stuff
Deep West: A Literary Tour of
Wyoming
A new book Deep West: A Literary Tour of
Wyoming has just been published by Pronghorn Press. It was commissioned by the Wyoming Center for the Book and contains the works of 19 writers with roots in the State, including my own short story
The
Promise from my book Jackson Hole, Uneasy
Eden.
The book has become quite controversial, especially in Jackson since it deals with the darker side in the life of a community facing a wrenching transition from a small bucolic country town to a high powered international resort.
My wife and I divide
our time between Jackson Hole, New York and elsewhere and have done so for the past 15 years. I sponsor a short story contest through the Wyoming Arts Council for Wyoming writers and am one of the founders of the Jackson Hole Writers Conference and was the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jackson Hole Library. I mention this only to validate my knowledge of the turf and while many in the area applaud what is happening to our beloved piece of paradise, I can't find much joy in the transformation.
Jackson
Hole, Uneasy Eden
 |
 |
The author tells the truth about the impact of "new"
people on a mountain resort.
In this collection of fictional short stories, the reader will find
insights and truths engendered by the modern invasion of "new folks"
to glorious mountain enclaves now dubbed "resorts." These acclaimed
stories capture the truth, warts and all, of how modern life can both corrupt
and enhance a traditional environment. Based on the author's experience as a
long-time resident of this pristine valley in Wyoming nestled in the heart of
the Grand Tetons, America's most beautiful mountain range.
Read one
story - Free
Now!
|
|
E-Sheets
1 to 17
For
your convenience, we now offer an online
archive of Warren Adler E-Sheets. See the E-Sheet
archives now.
Until
next time, happy reading, and we hope to hear
from you in our interactive
book chats.
Warren
Adler
If
you prefer not to receive messages like
this one, please click
here to unsubscribe. Thank you.
Visit
Warren
Adler's homepage now! |
