EBooks. Apparently, Mr. Jonathan Franzen is not a fan.
“The technology I like is the American paperback edition of Freedom. I can spill water on it and it would still work! So it's pretty good technology. And what’s more, it will work great 10 years from now. So no wonder the capitalists hate it. It’s a bad business model. I think, for serious readers, a sense of permanence has always been part of the experience. Everything else in your life is fluid, but here is this text that doesn’t change. Will there still be readers 50 years from now who feel that way? Who have that hunger for something permanent and unalterable? I don’t have a crystal ball. But I do fear that it’s going to be very hard to make the world work if there’s no permanence like that. That kind of radical contingency is not compatible with a system of justice or responsible self-government.”
I laughed his comments off at first as very arrogant, snotty, and uninformed. Yet, I thought about it again and began to ask myself, does he bring up a good point? I did see some pros to his argument, but just like anything else in this world, this argument has its holes as well. This article will take a look at the argument of whether one should be looked upon as serious reader or not because they exclusively use eBooks. Has Franzen hit upon a hot button issue here? Is there a group of readers who now think they are better because of their adherence to the print format? Are people who rely on digital technology being unfairly persecuted? This sounds almost bordering on the ridiculous but these kinds of arguments are being made by authors and publishers everywhere. We shall take a look at the psychology of the eBook and what advantages or disadvantages it has for the average user. The second part of this article will explore print books, eBooks, and this notion of freedom, which Franzen seems to allude to here. Is one medium really that much better than the other? Does this even matter? Here, I mean are we spending a lot of time arguing over something that is essentially trivial. Finally, we will discuss why these arguments, hurt feelings, controversies are even taking placing anyway.
Let us first take a look at why eBooks can be considered a positive and negative development in today's literature hungry society at the same time. Ebooks have improved the reading experience with more opportunities to read in many new place. I take my phone everywhere. I take it to the doctor, dentist, hair stylist, car dealer. With the presence of my eBook app, I am now able to read in so many more places because sometimes I would not be willing to carry a book some place. One of the primary reasons for this was the fact that very few books fit into your pocket. The fear of losing a library book also played a part in whether or not I took a book somewhere, but eBooks guarantee that you can't lose them. I am able to take all of my books everywhere that I go, which has me finishing books much quicker than I have in years. Yet for that benefit, a flaw unfortunately emerges, which can hinder your reading experience. Many of the devices that you read eBooks on have other applications as well. On my iPhone, I can read books, but also surf the web, watch Youtube, listen to music, play pinball, text my friend, and so much more. Even dedicated e-readers have some distractions to them like the online store for that device. The distractions remain enormous because of the multi-tasking power of these devices, while a print book is only that, a print book. You cannot press a button on the back of it and play music. The only thing you can really do is put it down and walk away from it. For the reader, this may mean how quickly you read something. One must be disciplined not to give into the temptation of browsing another app. The next benefit is the fact that you no longer need to buy book shelf after book shelf to hold your books. All of your books are right there on your device. The good news is that you are not locked into one device’s operating system because the eBooks are also stored in the cloud. Some detractors will say that you cannot be sure that your books will always work in the future. I have heard this contention about the questionable permanence of technology, but I have a very good feeling that iOS or Android will be around in the future and any new system will make plans for apps like Amazon and Overdrive. I simply look to the example of Microsoft Windows. We will always have some version of Microsoft Windows. I will talk more about eBooks and how permanent it is when I discuss the idea of fairness and openness a little bit later. Next is where the physical reading experience really begins to show a contrast. A book I can bend, throw, beat up, prod, poke all night and I will still do minimal damage to it. Simply think about how you read a book in bed. Now, a digital book requires you to be much more gentle and careful because you do not want to damage your device or accidentally make your phone go someplace you do not wish to go to. Unfortunately, reading on a device causes you more stress and you feel a lot less comfortable when reading. For example, a print book never has technical difficulties like low battery life on a device like the Kindle. You will not have to stop reading because you are running out of power. Yet, in contrast, digital books never make you spend money on gas to drive to the book store or library. In the end, you may have different reasons as to why you read a certain way, but now we will take a look at the controversial part of Franzen’s words.
He says that people that read on electronic devices are not serious readers. I say to that, BULLSHIT! Mr. Franzen, are you actually serious? This reaction would be me calling all bibliophiles creepy and weird. That is how ridiculous such a statement sounds to me. This statement reminds me of when Radiohead fans complained about downloading their latest album at only 256 bpm, not the optimal 320 bpm. Such statements made many such Radiohead fans sound like a bunch of elitist snobs. This is what Mr. Franzen has done. He has categorized those that prefer print as a class of elitists who look down upon people who use technology. My reading experience is not about about what the book smells like, what the book feels like, what the book looks like, the euphoria of holding the book in my hand. All of these things make really marginal difference to me. I care about what is in the book and how the author makes me feel, not how the physical book itself makes me feel. This sounds to me like Mr. Franzen among others feels threatened by eBooks and technology in general. Simply because you hate technology and change does not give you the right to denigrate a group who embrace progress. I say it is fine to prefer print over digital, but do not say that I am less devoted as a reader because of this fact. This is not only inaccurate, but ignorant and makes you look like a complete ass. Also, Mr. Franzen has done those who prefer print over digital no favors making them look as if this group looks down upon those that use digital books. This could not be further from the truth.
Franzen goes on to argue that print books tend to have a greater sense of permanence than electronic books. Here, he would have been wise to discuss how print titles give you ownership, while digital copies are merely rentals. His point might have been well taken, if he would have articulated it in a different way. One of the hurdles in the future for libraries will be the complexities of licensing and digital rights management. Were the makers of compact discs saying the same thing as iTunes arrived on the scene? Libraries have made a bit of a fuss over this fact, but my question is whether it makes any difference. I am thinking that a lifetime rental is merely the equivalent of lifetime ownership. The possibility of Amazon or someone else taking away this license is simply a risk that libraries will have to take and live with. I find fault with the argument that print books offer you freedom. These books offer you a complete and utter lack of freedom when compared with the number of ways you can look at an eBook. You can view or save these eBooks if allowed on an iPhone, Android, PC, Mac, cd, Kindle, Nook, and much more. Some devices might even let you print. Print books only allow you to view books with your own two eyes. If you ask me, the electronic version allows for a bit more freedom. I can read the book anywhere there is an Internet connection, but the print version only has one physical copy.
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