LITERARY critic and theorist Northtrop Frye has said, “The most technologically efficient machine that man has ever invented is the book.”
True enough, books have become a big part of our lives. The feeling of picking up a fresh copy, one’s fingers ruffling the pages and one’s nose smelling the fresh print of ink on paper brings a sense of giddy happiness to a reader.
But the emergence of electronic books, or e-books, seems to have put traditional books in the backburner in favor of tablets and smartphones.
It seems that technology is slowly replacing print media. Everywhere I turn I see someone holding an iPad or a Kindle, reading today’s latest bestsellers.
Even the circulations of dailies get better attention online. People would rather log on their mobile devices than wait at the news stand to have the latest copy of the day’s paper.
I read an article on Wired Magazine about a 36-year-old college dropout named Hugh Howey, who started writing a series of science fiction novels titled “Wool” while working at a book store in Boone, North Carolina.
Howey wanted to publish his work but did not want to lose creative control, so he sold digital copies of his novellas on the Internet. Surprisingly, “Wool” turned out to be a huge success, selling 14,000 copies on Amazon within the first six months of its release. Howey made at least $12,000 per month since it surfaced online, and readers fascinated with his work bombarded him with e-mails, begging for more.
At the zenith of his success, Howey got calls from different agents who wanted to publish the book on print, but he was reluctant for he was making so much money in e-book sales alone. In the end, Howey was offered a six-figure deal from publishing giant Simon & Schuster, buying the rights for “Wool” to be exclusive on print.
In the world of print, success often comes in publishing a best seller, but Hugh Howey proved that technology has edged out and has become a better form of media.
It is a sad realization for book lovers to realize that the art of print is aging fast, and that big publishers could be in trouble, for in business, the maintenance of e-book sales is a lot cheaper.
In 2011, the total sales of e-books beat that of print, and the number keeps growing every year. More people are buying their bedside reads online, preferring their convenience.
I remember a few years back when the last installment of the Harry Potter series first came to local book stores. I rushed to the nearest branch to get my hardbound copy. I got there so early in the morning, just before the mall opened its doors, and I found myself staring at a long line of people anticipating the same book as I.
Nowadays, people just purchase the new releases on their smartphones and tablets. J.K. Rowling’s newest novel, “The Casual Vacancy”, ranked significantly in digital sales. Not that I find it obtuse, but where is the sense of excitement in that?
Reading print books bring about a sense of nostalgia and comfort, bringing the reader to another world, with one’s imagination running rampant. Reading from a digital copy just doesn’t cut it.
There’s no denying that e-books are an innovation of technology, bringing us into the new age. But the brevity of the matter is without print, there is nothing to publish on pixels. However convenient e-books might be, the magic and wonder that printed books bring are still unparalleled.
