Bjørn Stærk blog - In reluctant defense of e-books

Tuesday June 21, 2005 by Bjørn Stærk

I'm beginning to warm up to the idea of reading books digitally. I've always liked books on paper. I like to hold them, and own them, and mark them with dog-ears and whatever you call those lines that form when you bend them, so it's clear that they've been used. When I finish reading a book, I even write down the date in it. I've never thrown away a book. I see owning a book as a life-long obligation to preserve it for future generations. Old furniture you throw out, books are forever.

So naturally I've been skeptical of the idea of e-books. They're not real, and they never wear. You only own them in an abstract and temporary sense. They're reading reduced to its essentials, nothing but thousands of words after one another. But a couple of things have happened that have changed my mind.

Well, one thing: I learned how plain practical it is to read on a PDA. It began when I installed Wikipedia on my Palm T3. So much data, so simple to read - slippery sloap ahead. Then I started to download RSS feeds to read on the bus, using a smart piece of software called Sunrise (+ Plucker). It gives you a real sense of superiority to have the best news sources in the world in front of you while the poor guy next to you is stuck with Aftenposten.

E-books soon followed, and I began to realize that they have a lot of advantages. Take shelf space. I'm out of it. I ran out of shelf space a couple of months ago. I decided to get rid of 50 or so bad and uninteresting books to clear space, the first time I've ever given this a thought. Selected the victims, took them out of the bookcase and .. lost my courage. They're still lying in a pile on the floor. One of these days I'll get my courage back, walk out to the paper container, and throw them in. I have to. The point is that I'm reading beyond my means. At a rate of 50 or so books a year, I'll soon either have to pretend there's room for another bookcase or move into a larger apartment, and it's a pain to have to factor in real-estate prices when you shop at Amazon.

Newly released books are the worst. I hate hardcovers. They're like a publisher's sick joke, more expensive and several times as large as a paperback. Harry Potter 5 ate up the shelf space of three normal paperbacks. Why would anyone do that to a book lover?

And then there's weight. Books are fine to read at home, but travelling with a sufficient book supply is a nightmare. By mailing books home when I read them and buying new ones as I need them, I usually manage to never carry more than a week's worth of books at any time when I'm on vacation, but that's still heavy.

E-books don't take up any space, and they don't weigh anything. You can take all the ten books you're currently reading with you on the bus and choose which one to continue. You can take a library on your vacation. All that text is right there in front of you, at 12x8cm and 150g. Luxurious.

There are some drawbacks to reading e-books on PDA's that remain to be solved, though.

1) Battery life. PDA makers believe that their customers would rather carry another hundred MHz around in their pockets than be able to use their PDA for more than 4 hours at a time, 8 at most. This mirrors the moronic CPU obsession of PC makers, who believe people would rather have another GHz on their desktop than a computer that doesn't sound like a vacuum cleaner. They're both wrong - at least for my part.

2) Displays. If somebody has made a PDA that can be used in direct sunlight, I want to know about it.

3) Availability. Most popular books can be bought digitally, but the long tail suffers.

And then there's the nostalgic joy of owning a physical book, of placing it on a shelf and preserving it for future generations, (who'll give it away to a flea market, but that's their problem). But why do I have to physically own all the books that I read? I have a lot of books, but many of them aren't any good. What's the point? A library that never shrinks sounded like a good idea when I was 16 and had less than 50 books of my own, but half a thousand books later I'm beginning to appreciate the idea of an exclusive library, where only the best of the best gains residency.

So maybe I'll buy my books digitally first, when I can, and if the books are more than coherent word permutations, I'll invest in a physical copy. Best of both worlds: Usability and nostalgia.

And maybe - maybe - I'll go pick up that pile of bad books from the floor, carry them out to the trash, tears streaming, and throw them in. (Update: I just did. Oh God, what I have I done!)

Herbie, NY NY | 2005-06-21 21:38 | Link

"I see owning a book as a life-long obligation to preserve it for future generations. Old furniture you throw out, books are forever." Exactly.

A friend of mine, who is an Orthodox Jew, told me that it is considered a sin to throw away a book. If you can not give it away you are to bury it like an old friend.

Ulrik von Tulling XI | 2005-06-21 22:22 | Link

Of course, before e-books can be of any value whatsoever, those who release them have to stop using digital restrictions management (DRM) schemes to limit what the reader can do with them. Who wants a book which denies you the rights to use it as you wish? Only retards, I suppose.

Zadig Galbaras, Norway | 2005-06-22 01:18 | Link

A book have the same right to live as any other divece or gadget.
When the usefulness has ran out, get rid of it.

A book can remain useful for thousands of years, but then again, I know you agree, there are books that never should have been printed.
Books which exists digitally are much easier to get rid of. Just hit delete!

--ZG--

Øyvind, Mechelen | 2005-06-22 06:24 | Link

When you get your courage back give your books to Fretex instead. And when it comes to direct sunlight, I have problems reading ordinary books in that kind of light. I usually flee inside.

Mark, Virginia | 2005-06-22 06:27 | Link

In the US we have this thing called a "library," where you can borrow a book for a couple of weeks but don't have to take on the responsibilities of permanent ownership.

Øyvind, Mechelen | 2005-06-22 08:39 | Link

Mark:

Sure sounds like something socialist. A place you can go and just borrow stuff? Amazing.

Øyvind

Herbie, NY NY | 2005-06-22 13:39 | Link

Oyvind: LOL

ch | 2005-06-22 18:25 | Link

That's what the fretex is for, recycling old books..

Is there any reason to hold on to books that you know you'll never read again?

I have a good scheme for getting rid of unwanted books:
When you buy a new book from amazon, be sure not to break the cover, read it and then wrap it up in a nondescript wrapping. Give the book away for bithdays or as christmas presents. So if you actually want to read the book again borrow it fom whomever you gave it to. :)

Don't see the problems, see the solutions...

Sandy P | 2005-06-22 18:47 | Link

Somewhere in Dailypundit's archives is a post or 2, 3 about this. Bill is a writer.

Besides, think of all the trees this will save.

Bjørn Stærk | 2005-06-22 21:18 | Link

Ulrik: Of course, before e-books can be of any value whatsoever, those who release them have to stop using digital restrictions management (DRM) schemes to limit what the reader can do with them.

DRM is an obstacle, one I find it easy to bypass, but many others don't. And even reading e-books the way you're meant to can be a daunting task - look at the installation procedures for Microsoft Reader. (I prefer to buy books in that format because there's a good crack available for it.)

DRM and usability are conflicting goals. Time for publishers to choose: Do they want a false sense of security that drives away customers, or do they want a market for e-books?

Arnt Richard Johansen, Trondheim | 2005-06-24 00:09 | Link

Don't throw books away - give them to Bookcrossing. See http://www.bookcrossing.com/ .

Michael Farris | 2005-06-24 12:20 | Link

I guess this wouldn't be a good time to mention that I once co-hosted a book-burning party.

This was when I was till living in the US (80's) and without getting into the whole premise, some of which I forget, I'll just mention that
a) the main idea was to burn books you liked (showing dedication to the ideas and not a physical object though IIRC no one actually burned a book they felt strongly about (good or bad) though I think a person or two burned (copies) of their theses/dissertations (this was a grad student party)

b) librarians and (2nd hand) book store people we talked to immediately understood the idea (libraries burn books all the time) and a book store donated a couple of boxes of harlequins to use as tinder since they had about 10 times more than they could ever hope to sell)

Ellen | 2005-06-24 18:01 | Link

It is not always uncontroversial to burn books. I guess if you openly set fire to e.g. the qu'ran, for all I know maybe your life could be in danger.

Hopefully, it is not quite as controversial to delete the e-book equivalents of such books...

Helge Ogrim, Oslo | 2005-06-25 21:45 | Link

Bjørn asks for solutions to the drawbacks of ebooks; battery life and display quality.
They seem to be here already.
I recently aquired Sony's Libri'e, an epaper beauty produced by Philips and stuffed with Sony software, if I'm not mistaken.
This is the first commercial release of an epaper product for the mass market.
The display is crystal sharp, excellent outdoors, as it is read by the aid of reflected light, as a book on paper.
No energy is consumed in displaying the page after it has been created, providing a battery consumption of four AAAs to display several thousand pages (5000 boasted). The display stores 250 books, making a yars-long travel with only this slim thing as your companion possible.
So far Japanese letters only (no, I don't read Japanese). No English language version available yet. But soon, I expect.

Bjørn Stærk | 2005-06-25 22:19 | Link

Helge Øgrim: I recently aquired Sony's Libri'e, an epaper beauty produced by Philips and stuffed with Sony software, if I'm not mistaken. ... So far Japanese letters only (no, I don't read Japanese). No English language version available yet. But soon, I expect.

Do you often buy gadgets you're unable to use? ;)

The Librie sounds promising, but Sony has crippled it with DRM. You can't read books that aren't on Sony's own unique format, and those are set to self-destruct after 60 days..!

Besides, the thing looks too large, I don't want a qwerty on it, and I would prefer regular PDA functionality as well. The less gadgets I have to carry, the better. I can compromise on the last, but I don't want anything too large for my pocket, nor something that isn't on a platform open enough for third party software, (like Palm OS, Windows or Linux).

I guess I'll wait for someone to make something like the current generation of PDA's, but with 15-20 hours of battery life and a more powerful display, (anyone tried those new VGA displays?) The technology is almost there. Alternatively a hybrid that is able to switch between electronic paper and PDA mode .. is that even technologically possible?

Rune Kristian Viken, Oslo | 2005-06-25 23:53 | Link

I've never thrown away a book. I see owning a book as a life-long obligation to preserve it for future generations.

Aha! Caught you in a lie, did I Beorn? :) Wasn't it you that wanted to throw some books, whereas I rescued one from the evil bookthrower that you are? Or have you repented and decided not to throw them away? (Or maybe you managed to horrify enough of your friends to get them to rescue the ones I didn't want? :-)

(Real Life Note: Me and Beorn are pals, and Beorn tend to lend me interesting books .. but I had to rescue a stack from him a couple of months ago - books which he said he intended to *gasp* THROW AWAY!)

Rune Kristian Viken, Oslo | 2005-06-25 23:59 | Link

Hmph, I should learn to read the entire article before commenting, AND I shall do a penance for using the 'p' instaed of 'i' html tag for quoting you.

Humpfh. Bad day.

John Anderson USA | 2005-06-26 06:25 | Link

"3) Availability. Most popular books can be bought digitally, but the long tail suffers."

I occasionally wonder about that, since typesetting is no lomger done on a LinOType or by hand but on a computer. Has noone developed a format change program?

Bobbi Schwartz, South Florida | 2005-06-30 17:55 | Link

Thank you for this thread. Excellent points made. Mostly though you have to remember that ebooks are like efriends.. you remember what you have read but they are not Real.

"So naturally I've been skeptical of the idea of e-books. They're not real, and they never wear. You only own them in an abstract and temporary sense."

Bobbi Schwartz, South Florida | 2005-06-30 17:55 | Link

Thank you for this thread. Excellent points made. Mostly though you have to remember that ebooks are like efriends.. you remember what you have read but they are not Real.

"So naturally I've been skeptical of the idea of e-books. They're not real, and they never wear. You only own them in an abstract and temporary sense."

Flag | 2005-07-14 05:05 | Link

I don't want a qwerty on it, and I would prefer regular PDA functionality as well. The less gadgets I have to carry, the better.

Peggy, Salem Oregon USA | 2005-07-26 19:11 | Link

Bjorn, I share your love for books and never throw one away (they multiply like Schmoos in my house). I do, however, give away books I no longer want or have room for. If no one wants those, I give them to a Goodwill store where they are resold very cheaply.

But I will never switch to ebooks, despite the pain of toting books around with me on trips. Why? Because I write comments in the margins...arguments with the author, corrections (in my opinion), added information, etc. Reading a paper book is interactive for me in a way ebooks never can be.

Mitch, Massachusetts USA | 2005-08-26 01:16 | Link

My dear wife got rid of some of my books when we got married by the simple expedient of moving them to the cellar, where mildew rendered them unusable. I still love the smell of a freshly-printed hardback, but not mildew.

For the classics, or anything out of copyright, try Project Gutenberg. I find that Alice in Wonderland makes meetings go a little faster.

JkEpnGLqKb | 2005-11-10 18:32 | Link