Riding herd on the e-books stampede
One of my favorite books of all time is Lonesome Dove, that neo-classic tale of the West by Texan Larry McMurtry.
Although he has a passion for writing westerns of both period and modern vintage, McMurtry explodes the stereotype of what a writer of westerns is all about. That’s one of the reasons I like his books so much.
Novelist Larry McMurtry put his one-stoplight hometown on the map with "the Last Picture Show," and continues to draw tourists there with his bookstore called, Booked Up. The store survived the economic crisis that put many booksellers out of business. The novelist believes printed books will likewise survive the e-book. (AP Photo/Arizona Daily Star, David Sanders)
Books in his saddlebags
I’ve never been in McMurtry’s home but, I bet that in place of a Winchester rifle and crossed branding irons above a massive fireplace, you would find rows of books packed into wall-to-wall shelving.
I get that image because Larry McMurtry is a guy in love with books.
How do I know that? Because the guy owns one of the larger antiquarian bookstores around, called Booked Up, that comprises four buildings and contains some 400,000 books. That’s bigger than a lot of college libraries, and it’s not found in Houston or Dallas but way out in Archer City, Texas. If that town sounds vaguely familiar, go check out McMurtry’s breakthrough novel, The Last Picture Show or its sequel, Texasville.
This is one literate cowboy.
A vexing question
Because I admire McMurtry the author so much, I plopped down $6.95 plus tax for the current issue of Harper’s Magazine at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport the other day. The article catching my eye was one by McMurtry asking the provocative question, “Will Amazon kill the book?”
Since this is one big-time bookseller asking the question about another, I thought McMurtry might just be the right guy to answer that question.
He did, and the answer is no.
This, despite the Amazon CEO’s apparent desire to see books go to the back of the shelf. Keep in mind we’re talking about the kind of printed book that the world has known for the past 500 years or so, ever since Johannes Gutenberg started cranking them with his movable type.
One Click
Reviewing Richard L. Brandt’s book, One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com, McMurtry is quick to give credit to Amazon’s founder as a creative genius. In fact, his review begins by noting the following:
“If the late Steve Jobs was the Thomas Edison de nos jours, perhaps the ever-present Jeff Bezos of Amazon is our Henry Ford. Both Bezos and Ford had a single culture-changing idea that they executed doggedly until the culture came round.”
The Kindle: Year 4
McMurtry is referring not only to the creation of the gigantic online flea market we know as Amazon.com, but also to the new kind of electronic book reader that Amazon launched in 2007 that we know as the Kindle.
But McMurtry disagrees with Bezos that the e-book is going to render ink-on-paper books obsolete as we all migrate to the e-screen of Kindle and – although Bezos might not acknowledge it – the Barnes & Noble version called the Nook.
Jeff Bezos and Amazon are betting that this Kindle Fire will continue to rope in e-book readers. Amazon announced that this Black Friday was the best ever for the Kindle famlly, and the Kindle Fire remained the bestselling product across all of Amazon since its introduction in September. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
I wrote about these new technologies a couple years ago in this blog, asking the question, “Will the e-book catch on?” Certainly the sales that Amazon is touting of Kindle seem to indicate they are indeed catching on. But my own personal observations, made over the past year on my college campus of 5,200 undergrads, indicate otherwise. I just don’t see that many students sitting under the trees reading e-books.
Doubting the worst
McMurtry, doubts that e-books will wipe out traditional tomes. Keep in mind, however, he has a financial interest in the health of the printed book. He does have to pay the utilities for all that bookstore space out in Archer city. Nevertheless, he writes:
“Less attractive about Bezos is his obvious irritation at the continued existence of the paperbound book, which provides, still, serious competition to sales of his e-book device, the Kindle.
“He has pointed out that the traditional book has had a 500-year run; he clearly thinks it’s time for those relics to sort of shuffle offstage. Then he will no longer be bothered with old-timey objects that have the temerity to flop open and cause one to lose one’s place.”
Bubbles can burst
Acknowledging the opening-weekend kind of success the Kindle is having, McMurtry cautions, “The culture has surged in the direction of e-books, but the surge might not go on forever. It might be a bubble.”
Those of us who have felt the deep satisfaction of taking our time to browse through a bookstore – large or small – and walking out with more than we expected to buy, can appreciate where McMurtry is coming from.
And that kind of customer satisfaction, especially of finding the unexpected volume that had long eluded us elsewhere, is not always such an accident. Again McMurtry writes, “Stirring the curiosity of readers is a vital part of bookselling; skimming a few strange pages is surely as important as making one click.”
Is older better?
Every time I cast my lot with traditionalists who say the older is better than the newer, I know I run the risk of sounding my age. In fact, the older is not always better. As a writer and a college professor, I know what research used to be like in musty old libraries vs. what it is like now with the library sitting on my lap as those needed references appear in seconds rather than hours.
Still I hasten to add that reading from the printed page in a nicely bound book that you can keep as a reminder in plain sight after you’re finished, is nothing to write off so easily.
At least it doesn’t require a battery or a frantic call to the Geek Squad if the e-reader refuses to waken from its zzzzzzz’s.
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Comments
[...] got nothing better to do. And it’s not just me that feels this way: Blogger Jim Willis found a few things to ponder, but David Daley, senior culture editor of Salon, was practically cruel (McMurtry has become [...]
I am kind of in between on this issue. I work at Barnes and Noble and I have a NOOK Simple Touch and a NOOK Tablet. I know that the printed page is not dead and I truly believe that it is not going anywhere. I do tend to buy e-books, but if I can get a physical copy of a book for a cheaper price with my employee discount that’s what I am going to do. Although I think the NOOK is a better device, I am not against the Kindle, but that comment made by Bezos was kind of off-putting. I understand why he may think that books should make their way out, being the leader of a digital empire of sorts, but I buy tons of books from Amazon because I can get them used at good prices. And to be honest, until Amazon changes the format of their e-books so that they can be read on other devices, he is excluding people from complete access to a digital library.
I agree with McMurty that although the Kindle is an amazing invention, books will never fully disappear. There is just something special about physically having a book in front of you to read and having it be your own. You can make notes in it and highlight your favorite parts. For me, I feel accomplished as I turn more and more pages of the book and eventually reach the end. I already spend so much time sitting in front of a computer screen, I enjoy having a break and being able to pick up a book. I think there are too many people who love books therefore books will still be around for a long time, at least I hope that will be the case. Only time will tell if that is correct or not.
I cannot imagine a world where I couldn’t find a book to open, a bookstore to browse beautiful covers, and smell old pages of classic favorites. I cannot even begin to think about sitting close to a fire and snuggling up with an electronic screen. No, I would never give in to the Kindle or Nook; I am too attached to the feel and smell and look of a real book. I like to have my mini library in my room so that I can go back and lend books to friends or choose to read a highlighted passaged on a dog eared page. I think that the age of technology has blossomed but it feels like it is taking over- people are noticing. I think there are still enough people who truly love books and are starting to fear the age of technology take over that we will not let Kindle take over. Its hard to enjoy nature and the poetry of old great poets if you are sitting by a lake surrounded by trees, clutching an electronic screen. I am definitely hoping for a world where my children will always know books.
I enjoyed reading this article because I myself have converted to the digital reader. Especially for college, getting my textbooks on my iPad is much cheaper than what the APU bookstore offers for the new AND used books. Last summer, I bought my mother who is an avid book reader a nook. She thought she wouldn’t like it, but she has actually come to love the thing. It is much more compact than any of the book she reads and is easy to carry around. That is what makes having 4 college sized textbooks for a semesters worth of classes so beneficial!
I personally own a Nook, which is the Barnes & Noble version of The Kindle. After using it for a few months, it proved my skepticism. First of all, it is ridiculous that my book can run out of battery. In just a few hours of reading it starts to warn me about running out of juice, and then it auto shuts down. Just ridiculous. Second of all, e-books simply does not have the feel of a real book to it. Turning the page by pressing the button is just not the same as.. well.. turning an actual page. Although e-books has made book distribution more affordable and simple, it is making books into “just a file” instead of treating it like a work of art. Similar to iTunes, a revolution that ended CD and vinyl sales. MP3 files just simply does not have the magical appeal that a record possesses. Well, maybe I’m just another person who can’t accept the flow of technology and longs for the past.
I own a kindle. I couldn’t be happier with it. I love that fact that I am able to store countless books unto it and take them all wherever I go, without dealing with the extra weight. One of the burdens though is that fact I cannot easily highlight and write notes in the books. I feel that that is one of the main reasons why e-books will not get rid of printed books. People love to read books, hold them, thumb through them, and treasure buying a first edition copy. Books also hold a sentimental value to some people. When they write notes in them for their loved ones or pressing a flower. I do like though buying books on my kindle for a lot less than buying a printed book. Yet, printed books will never go out of style in my mind.
My two favorite quotes from McMurtry’s article are:
1. “The culture has surged in the direction of e-books, but the surge might not go on forever. It might be a bubble.”
2. Again McMurtry writes, “Stirring the curiosity of readers is a vital part of bookselling; skimming a few strange pages is surely as important as making one click.”
In reference to the first quote, it is interesting to think of the ebook era to be a bubble. It seems that every new piece of technology that starts off successful in the market continues to advance and thrive as company after company builds off of it and creates newer and more advanced models. Much like the iphone. Now there is the iphone 4s that can talk to you. What’s next??
Secondly, I agree that stirring curiosity is key in the book selling industry. Many book readers that I have met enjoy reading the first couple pages and the last couple pages of a book prior to buying it. Just like the saying says, “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” Being able to physically flip through the pages is important to many readers like myself.
For a long time I have been skeptical about items like the “Kindle” and “Nook”. While I do appreciate the way technology has transformed the way we receive information. There is just something about a paper book that seems right: Leaving a note in the margin or highlighting your favorite quote or even passing a book along to a friend. The Kindle and Nook are great invention I just am a firm believer in paper books.
I have never tried reading the Nook or Kindle, and to be honest I do not have the desire to start. I really enjoy reading real books and being able to turn the pages. I like how it was mentioned that it is enjoyable being able to go to the bookstore for hours and search for a wonderful book. Hopefully McMurty is right when he said that real books are going to stay in business. However, with the high demand of e-books the future of printed books may be in jeapordy.
Brittany, thanks for the thoughtful post on the e-books article. Our media rituals are definitely changing, and that includes how we read books.
Alan, thanks for the reaction to the post on e-books. Interesting comment about e-books making books into a “file” instead of a “work of art.”
I like reading this article because I feel like I learn a lot from it and it also challenge me to think. I have to say that I am in between on this problem. I like to search the information online because I can find them easily. However, I do not like to read the textbook or novel online. I am the person who like to have a real book and read it, highlight it, and write some notes on it. I know we can do that online, too, but it is different feeling. In my generation, I believe the kindle will not be as popular as the real book because my generation still use to read the real book. However, I do not know about next generation because the tech is develop so fast and the sociality is keep changing. Therefore, the kindle or NOOK may be more popular than the real book. However, I really believe the book will not be disappear because it is still really important for us.
I agree with McMurty that the e-book isn’t going to take over printed books and that it’s just a bubble. But I also think that both will be able to co-exist for a long time. I know as a student I enjoy holding the physical book and highlight in it and make notes in the margins. The e-books are lighter to carry, which makes it more convenient, but staring at a screen hurts my eyes despite that the nook says it has special lighting to ease that problem. I just get a feeling like an e-book is fake, not a real book, but that’s just me. I too, hardly ever see students on campus reading a book on their iPad or nook. And only a couple of times have I seen students pull up their text book on their laptop. I think the printed books are not going anywhere!
Hi Arthur, and thanks for checking in. The idea of e-books is new to some, while others are using them quite a bit. It will be interesting to see where the future takes us with reading.
Technology is always such an interesting game changer in any industry. It almost seems like nobody is safe from the innovation that can come. However, there is always going to be people who are wanting to be naturalists. I personally prefer a hard copy book above a electronic version because it hurts my eyes after awhile and I do enjoy the tactile feel of a real book. However, as technology continues to make our lives easier, I see that real books will actually become a very rare thing compared to the technology versions due to environmental and ease of use reasons.
I agree that I don’t think ebooks will completely replace print. There is just something about being able to turn pages, highlight sentences, and fold tabs to keep your place. Though these all seem to be somewhat duplicated on ebooks, it really is not comparable. I myself have used ebooks through the internet as well as iBooks on my ipad and iphone, but it is never the first choice, usually the most convinient or quick when the semester starts and you have to have a book by midnight and cannot wait for it to be shipped. I also agree that in terms of research and documentation the technological advancement has made a huge impact but I do not see it replacing buying a paper back book in the airport or taking a few on a roadtrip. It is all part of an experience of reading and the exploration of stories .
The jury is still out on all this, as it is with much of the new apps for technology. But people do seem to be shifting their reading habits over to e-books.
Micah, I agree a lot of us will continue to want to read hard-copy books. Still others are using books on CD or downloadable audio books. But there does seem to be a surge toward e-readers. Could just be a temporary fascination with the new app, however.
I definitely agree that e-books will not simply replace printed books. I also agree that spending an afternoon in a book store perusing the shelves is a priceless experience that cannot be replaced by scrolling through short descriptions and pictures of book covers. I need to sit in the corner and really get an idea of what a book is about before I decide to buy it, and I really don’t think electronic books can offer me that luxury. I confess, I don’t own an e-book, and from what I’ve heard from my friends who do own them, they seem to be practical and convenient… I can just never see myself buying one. I like marking up my books… writing my own thoughts in them and marking quotes and pages that I like. I know e-readers allow for many of those functions to be preformed in an electronic manner, I just don’t see how it’s the same. For me, e-readers will never replace printed books.
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I am an owner of an amazon kindle and I love that I am able to buy some of my text books for school for less and books in general for less. McMurty, makes a point in saying that e-readers will not wipe out hard copy books altogether. I do agree with that comment because even though I like e-books I do prefer feeling the book in my hands and being able to highlight and easily thumb through pages. I do believe that sometimes older is better and hard copy books are still better then e-books.