So what’s an e-book?
Writing|You can read about BookExpo and see the evidence of his quote here.
I have to admit that while I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion, the idea of something digital smelling like burned fuel raised an eyebrow. I’m tempted to sniff my computer screen, but I won’t. It just strikes me as an odd thing to say. If he’s making an environmental issue, well the phrase: “Save a tree; read an ebook!” seems to have caught on more widely.
For those of you who don’t know, an e-book is simply an electronic version of a book. It’s a book in digital format, which may come in the form of an html document, an rtf file, microsoft’s own reader, pdf… and there are other types of software out there, which I won’t bother to list as they are no doubt inventing new ones as I type.
I appreciate some people are going to laughing at the very idea of someone wanting to read a book in a digital format and I do see their point. As to why, I’ll address the pros and cons another day. However, love them or loathe them, e-books exist and the market is growing. Whether you like it or not, they’re not simply going to fade away overnight. In addition, many people like e-books for various reasons, which I’ve decided to discuss on my blog, so do drop by over the next few days. There is a market for electronic print. Companies would not be investing trying to create the ideal portable e-book reader if this were not the case. Large publishers would not be announcing that they are looking to offer their entire book range in both print and electronic formats.
Some people are just very resistant to change. I love print books. I feel there’s nothing like holding a print book in your hands, BUT a good book is a good book whatever the format. I think the future needs to be about personal choice. I’m not pretending to hold a candle to Bradbury. What makes me laugh is that many writers who are known for writing such futuristic stories, then balk when they meet the future head-on. I’m going to age myself here, but my uncle was one of the first people to own a television set due to his job. I recall when television shows only came in black and white. I remember when videos first came to the market. And do you remember when they said CDs would never catch on? Give it time.
