Archive for November, 2007

It’s been some time in coming, but the burgeoning digital revolution as pertains to the written word is now fully upon us. We’ve seen the forerunners, to be sure, but Amazon has now released what I can only describe as the new benchmark in digital text transmission, The Kindle. Sony, of course, is trying its best to compete, with an updated reading device of its own.

There are differences between the two, and those differences may or may not be significant. That delineation ultimately, I think, will rest in the hands of each consumer as he (or she) decides what is of utmost importance.

The main differences, initially, are that the Sony Reader can play mp3′s and view PDF’s, while the Kindle does neither of those. The Kindle, however, is wirelessly synced to a “virtual” bookstore and that connectivity is always on, and you never pay for it. To get e-books to the Reader, you have to connect through a portal similar to ITunes and download them to your computer before transferring to the Reader.

Each allows access to blogs and newspapers. I’m sure there are some minor differences here, but I doubt they are of much significance. The size and weight dimensions are essentially the same, though the Kindle boasts a “keyboard” with many more keys.

Ultimately, what concerns me is not that these devices exist. To be honest, I have decided that I really want a Kindle…or I want one for a month to test drive (now if only I was a critically acclaimed best selling author…). Nevertheless, I am concerned about where this may lead.

As you all know, I hope one day to make a meager living as a writer. I’ve spent a number of years retailing books, and I’m pursuing both an MA in English and MFA in Creative Writing. Words are less something I’m concerned with, and more a considerable part of how I define myself. And so, I think I cannot be faulted too greatly for being concerned with how these devices will impact the way in which reading (and more importantly, in my mind) and writing are digested and created in our society.

I can already hear your rebuttal…something along the lines of, what about the IPod? As much as the record companies want you to believe otherwise, digital music has, in many ways, been very good for the music industry. Sure, the recording industry hasn’t yet figured out how to really deal with people who download music illegally (though, I might humbly suggest not suing housewives for hundreds of thousands of dollars as, you know, a gesture of good will…), but eventually the corporations will embrace the technology, instead of trying to prevent it and most everyone on both sides will be happy (I say most because, someone, somewhere will want to steal just for the fun of it…).

The fundamental difference, I think, is that music hasn’t really ever had a set mode of transmission. In my lifetime I have owned (or my family has, when I was just a nipper) record players, cassette players, 8-track players, CD players, and digital players (I love you WinAmp!) . Other than issues with convenience, there really isn’t much difference between the different medias. Unless you’re a total nutjob and have thousands of dollars, a CD isn’t all that better than a cassette, than a record (and some would argue that analog sound BETTER for certain types of music), etc. Don’t get me wrong, I love music. I have just under 200 hours of music on my laptop, and that’s about half the total CD’s laying around my house, not counting classical (of which, I have an assload thanks to years of free promos…). But when it comes right down to it, the specific player I am utilizing at any given time is of little importance to me.

Such can not be said about the written word, but more specifically about books. It’s been 600 years since there’s been any real innovation when it comes to transmitting the written word. Sure, newspapers and magazines are not the same as books, but they are produced in similar manners, and they present a tactile experience on par with books.

A book is something that you necessarily interact with. In his endorsement of Amazon’s product, Neil Gaiman (not a man I usually disagree with) states that it makes no difference to him whether he is flipping a page or clicking a button, and that the device is so intuitive that you hardly notice the difference. I haven’t used it, obviously, but I find this a bit disingenuous. Maybe I’m a poor reader, but I often find myself flipping back through pages of a book to revisit passages from earlier after I’ve come across something intriguing or important later on. I don’t think any flat screened device, no matter how intuitive, can make that particularly easy. And on a similar point, I can’t be the only person to write notes in margins or underline important passages…

I’m also quite curious to see how digital transmission of writing will affect poetry. I’ve waxed philosophic on a similar topic in the past, but the impact of digitized content seriously concerns me in regards to a form of art that can have as much depth visually as it does linguistically.

On some level, I realize all of this stems from the fact that I have the soul of a 60 year old. I like my personal library (no matter how much it annoys my wife). It’s taken me, literally, years to collect all the books that I have, and there is something very unsettling about thinking that one day, all of it could be stored within a device that fits easily in a small bag. I really do believe that digitizing the written word will, in some way, degrade the regard we have for it. Book reading is on the decline, and I have a suspicion that these devices might inadvertently contribute to this even more, what with there online newspaper and “blog” reading functionality.

Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe people will get enthused about fiction once it’s so easily accessible, but at a the current price tag of around 400 bones, I seriously doubt it.