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Did technology kill the book or give it new life?
Digital technology has certainly had a profound effect on the traditional book, but has it also given the book a new lease of life?
A Barnes and Nobles bookshop in Los Angeles, US
At one point it looked as if the rise of e-books at knock-down prices and e-readers like Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook posed a threat to book publishers and sellers. While printed book sales have taken a massive hit with the rise of digital, the rate of decline is now slowing down and that the excitement over e-readers is subsiding.
Amazon's Kindle displaying an e-book
In the UK, roughly £1.7bn was spent on print books in 2014, compared with £393m on e-books. The era of the printed book, it would seem, is far from over. Contrary to expectations, the printed book is still surviving alongside its upstart e-book cousin, and technology is helping publishers and retailers reach new audiences and find new ways to tell stories.
Barnes and Noble's ebook reader, Nook
Take for example “The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name” - a printed book that could be digitally individualised to include the name of the child reading it. The book went on to be the top-selling children's picture book in Britain and Australia.
A bookshop at the Tate Modern Museum in London, UK
A Spanish bookstore offers e-books as physical cards that can be bought online or in bookshops like other gift cards, while a London start-up is using technology to encourage people back to local bookshops. Every time you search for a book on Amazon, a window pops up saying how much it would cost at your nearest independent bookseller.
Cookbooks are still preferred in their printed form, compared to e-versions
There is also an app that enables readers to share comments and interact with the authors, much like a digital book club. There is even a “Spotify” for books, where you can hear authors reading their stories out loud.
So the book isn't dead; technology is simply helping it evolve beyond its physical confines.
Long live the book.
Click here for some books you must read!
(All images - credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)
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