Amazon has launched what they hope will be the electronic replacement for the book in the form as we now know it. It is called Kindle, which is to call to mind the crackling of the fires of innovation; or could it be the crackling of the paper of burning books? As Amazon founder Jeff Bezos related to Newsweek reporter Steven Levy, "Books are the last bastion of analog." Kindle is meant to be the battering ram that destroys the bastion.
I am not quite sure why books are seen, metaphorically, as analog's final defensive posture. I have never thought about books in the framework of analog; continuous, time-steady signals, generally of the electronic variety. So maybe I need to tilt his comment a bit sideways to facilitate a better understanding of the meaning. Does Bezos mean that the last bastion that analog must conquer is that of the book? By creating what is deemed a revolutionary new way of experiencing books - digital in nature - will we thus conquer the paper versions of reading technology that have worked so well for more than 550 years? Is his imperative meant to imply that digital formats are engaged in a battle to eliminate paper and ink? That both cannot survive and thrive together? Conquer, bastions, revolutions - it is getting a bit militaristic all of a sudden. Books and battlefields. Not a combination I would find intuitive or natural.
I am certainly NOT a Luddite, maybe a curmudgeon, certainly a librarian, a volitional reader, and most definitely a bibliophile, bookworm, and collector of books. I love the feel of a book in my hands. The weight and heft of it. The paper. The font type and size. Margins. Inlays. Book covers. Frontispieces. Gilded fore-edges. The information on the book jacket flaps. All of the components,tangible and "un" that make each book unique. The characteristics that make a book a bookf.
Can Kindle give me this experience? Bezos' Weltanschauung of a book appears to be quite different from mine. His attributes of a book - which he insists must be an integral part of the Kindle - include projecting an "aura of bookishness" which by itself has all or no meaning. Bezos elaborates on his notion of “bookishness.” So to create this "aura", Kindle is the size of a paperback and extremely light. It also emulates a book with its tapering width. From a side view, Kindle has the same width as an ordinary pencil, which, by the way, is not a "bookishness" characteristic of any books that I own. I personally enjoy a hefty book and the size, width, and weight of hardcover and paperback books are often a part of their appeal to me.
Kindle uses a long life battery so that reading a book does not resemble the long past nascent experience of going to the movies and being confronted with "cliffhangers." Bezos takes care to claim that the use of this battery should assure the reader does not experience the frustration of having Kindle suddenly go blank due to a “dead” battery. A good thing! Of course, if you read the old technology version of a book, this is not an issue.
At the Amazon.com site, all the features of Kindle are well presented and I must admit, it is pretty impressive devise. Kindle certainly goes far beyond the scope of a book as we know it today. It can hold 200 books, far more than I could carry around with me at one time. But I am not prone to reading or needing to read so many books at one time either. Its wireless connectivity enables it to function as an Internet device opening highways, roads, and bridges of literary opportunities. It includes free access to Wikipedia (access which is free anyway via the Internet) a plethora of new papers, national and international, as well as more than 250 blogs, updated daily. It further lets the user email documents and pictures to it so they can read them “on the go.” Kindle it is definitely multi-functional and cannot be faulted for a lack of innovation. But is it a book?
I am concerned with how such electronic interactive devices will alter the creation of a story, a textbook, biography, poetry, newspapers. How will authors and readers alike be influenced by Bezos' vision of a new way of reading, writing, and publishing. In a world of infinite connectivity, Kindle will enable any user of the Internet to write a book, article, essay, along with the author. So who is the author of the finished piece? And what happens to an author's unique voice and perspective? Kindle is further seen as a real-time “editor,” with Internet users posting their critiques of a work-in-progress as it is being created. Authors can then adjust the text based on the commentaries. Writing by poll; a new concept in creativity. Kindle also is predicted to enable users to write their own endings to books, write epilogues, add chapters, ad infinitum. So books can essentially always be a work in progress. While the user/writer may find satisfaction leaving her mark on a book, will the reader ever find closure?
As much as the Internet has created a platform for all to pontificate, muse, blog, debate, and so on, are we all Richard Russo or Naomi Wolf quality writers? Enabling Internet users to write along with David Sedaris as he works on his latest book of wit and satire leads to the creation of something other than that unique quality of "Sedaris-ness." Much will be lost. Being able to add an epilogue to Bob Woodward's latest book on the administration leads to a never-ending book which ultimately can stray far and wide from the original topic and point of view of the original author. I cannot imagine the hubris of believing I can add anything of creative merit to Alice Munro's stories and would be bereft if indeed, her future works were edited or supplemented by “we the reader” additions.
So, I'll hold on to my home library for now as I investigate the potentials and uses of devices such as Kindle. At least for now, books are not likely to vanish overnight. Nor will libraries or bookstores and other places which encourage the serendipity of browsing the shelves. I will keep my home library with its ever expanding shelves, groaning under the weight of non-Kindle sized books. I will continue to subscribe to the NY Times Book Review, even though it is also online now. This way I can continue to highlight interesting books, write comments on books I want to investigate further, and tear out sections I wan to keep or pass on to other like-minded readers. There is just something satisfying and basic about ink on paper that will keep me coming back to the old technology of a book.
