will ebooks kill the novelist - Writers Forum

constantin tsapas · 11-06-2004, 08:37 AM

It's apparent that the novelist will have to stiffed with tomorrow's ebook advancements. The pirating and sharing of ebooks will effect the novelist's paycheck. Any thoughts on this from anyone? Will we plugging into limewire or kazoo and download it all for free? Who wins?

mammamaia · 11-06-2004, 12:28 PM

i can't understand the first part of your post, but can state my opinion that e-books will not take over the novel market in the near future...

people still want to read a real book... it will take at least another couple of generations, before the majority of readers will prefer scrolling down a screen, to turning and dog-earing a page!

Nazareth · 11-06-2004, 01:47 PM

nope- I hate reading off a screen- much rather get comfortable with a book

tekp · 11-06-2004, 03:35 PM

Ah but what happens when virtual reality becomes commonplace and you can lie outside and read a book with only a pair of sunglasses?

I think they may do, and books might become antiques

Nazareth · 11-06-2004, 03:47 PM

I still prefere the written page to screen

Gundampilotspaz · 11-06-2004, 04:42 PM

Even Captian Kirk knew the joy of holding the book in your hands. Even when technology advances to the point where you will be able to read anything by putting a chip n a book sized screen, the book will not disappear.

Ralizah · 11-06-2004, 04:48 PM

The concept of physical, personal ownership is too powerful for the written page to ever be erased.

Rob · 11-06-2004, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralizah

The concept of physical, personal ownership is too powerful for the written page to ever be erased.

This reminds me of the discussions in the early/mid nineties, all those people who said Windows would never replace MS-DOS.

Omni

Emma LB · 11-06-2004, 06:11 PM

I can only think of a few ppl who read books online, but well, there are some I know and as monitors get better and more eye-friendly that number will probably increase.

Capulet · 11-06-2004, 06:59 PM

I remember this argument, only it was books on tape vs paper, and then casettes vs vinyl, CDs vs. vinyl, etc etc etc.

"The book" is just too engrained into society, too viable and portable a medium, to ever be truly replaced. You can throw it in your backpack, take it up to the mountains, down into the basement, read it by candlelight when there's no power, and just generally appreciate it more than the modern competition.

Rob · 11-06-2004, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capulet

"The book" is just too engrained into society, too viable and portable a medium, to ever be truly replaced. You can throw it in your backpack, take it up to the mountains, down into the basement, read it by candlelight when there's no power, and just generally appreciate it more than the modern competition.

Where I would take issue with this is your use of 'ever', implying that it can never happen, and your corresponding use of 'modern competition'. I would agree that with current technology the paper book is likely to be around for some time. But with future technology there's every chance that we could end up with something that has all the advantages you mentioned, portability, ease of storage, read by candlelight (or even generate its own) without paper. And the future often comes sooner than we think.

One day books will be gone.

Imagine something as convenient as a book, portable, easily stored, has its own internal power to read by, easy to view, and instead of containing one novel it contains hundreds, or even thousands, or links to some vast library on a wireless internet connection.

Omni

Capulet · 11-06-2004, 07:55 PM

The book has been around for a very, very long time. Look at something as contemporary as vinyl records. Despite multiple, incredibly superiour mediums that have come along to replace it, Vinyl is still very much in use, and venerated by some.

Now imagine the same feelings directed towards books, that have had thousands of years longer to permeate our culture. I can't foresee anything in the next several decades, if not centuries, completely displacing books.

constantin tsapas · 11-06-2004, 08:46 PM

Not only are many computer companies spending a vast amount of coin in research and development heading straight into the production of book-like portable pcs, but newer pocket pcs are on the rise. My friends are geek-crazy about theirs. They download free ebooks off the web and zap them into a portable device that they read anywhere, anytime. Not one book but thousands of books, documents, articles, etc. in a little gadget that is chick and en vogue.
****Free Ebooks That You Can Share And Read Anywhere****
Who wouldn't wan't that?!!! O.K. I Know this rant is trivial compared to what the quantum computer is gonna hit us with, but i still worry will the novelist get the shaft. Limewire and Kazza are great examples of how even loyal fans download because its free. So whose to say that with these resources and the advent of better reader freindly portable hardware, it won't hit the writer in the pocketbook.

The Times They Are A-Changin -Dylan 1964

Capulet · 11-06-2004, 09:20 PM

If you've got so many people downloading your work that your book sales are suffering, then perhaps you should go on tour and charge people for book readings! You're a star!

ghostman · 11-06-2004, 10:12 PM

I don't think ebooks will kill novelists...novelists, though, will perhaps kill novelists.

I would like to add a new perspective to the thread: ebooks, like paper books, still have to be written. So exactly how ebooks could kill novelists remains vague - without novelists, there won't be ebooks.

The novelist, if he is anything, is resolute. The novelist - not the entrepreneur (I won't name names, but you'll find many of them at the check-out counter) - will always write novels, regardless of the pay. That is what this thread is all about, anyway: the loot. It could perhaps be called: Will ebooks turn writing into a hobby (rather than a financial endeavor)?
I do not think the ebook will steal any measurable profits from novelists. This has to do with my belief that encryption technology is rapidly advancing, and that it will soon limit free art downloads (music, ebooks, et cetera) to the people who are knowledgeable (and brave) enough to subvert the encryption. This percentage of people, I imagine, will be roughly equal to the percentage of shoppers who shoplift.

Meanwhile, when are novelists going to stop wondering what will defeat them? The novel has been on its deathbed (according to such people as Gore Vidal) since at least the 1950's - owing, of course, to the rise of television. And we've been forecasting its exit ever since. Why don't we just focus on making it strong again?