Digital Paper

Will there in fact be printer newspapers and magazines fifty years from now? Will there be books?

As I sit down, as I do every morning, to find out what has happened over-night here and there in the world, I go to my browser favorites and I head for the Guardian online, arguably one of the best digital newspapers in the world.

And as I find an event, a story, that catches my interest, I burrow down into it for more detail; I may even branch out to some side-stories that shed some more light on this issue. Then, just to get a fuller picture, I may rush over to the BBC News site to get their take on this issue.

All of this without having to kill any trees for the paper or blacken my fingers from the ink. Heck, I don't even have to get out into the cold to collect the darn thing; I can do it right from my cozy desk, in just over a blink of an eye.

For a few months last year I subscribed to the Guardian Weekly, a weekly newspaper (as opposed to a magazine) with in-depth coverage of current stories, informative and sometimes intriguing interviews, book reviews and such; but the only real advantage, to me, was that I cold fold this paper into a comfortably readable size and kick back in an armchair to read it, for the data, the stories, were--for the most part--also available online.

I cancelled my subscription and returned to the LCD screen: better resolution, smoother cross-references.

True, you don't need a computer, nor do you need an internet connection, to read a newspaper, be it the Guardian Weekly, or your local community paper. And perhaps that is what is still keeping the presses running.

But fifty years from now, when the digital divide has indeed been bridged, and virtually everyone will have access, either via what wonder the personal computer may have become by then, or their PDAs or cell phones, will there still be paper papers?

I for one seriously doubt it.

And as for books.

I own a digital book reader, which--surprise, since I do love my paper books--I often use.

And why not?

It can store up to a thousand books, it has a pleasantly readable screen, and a rechargeable battery which can last a month or more on one charge (the digital ink devices only draws power to paint a new page, once painted, it draws no current, and can literally display this page forever without drain on the battery). I turn to the next page with the soft touch of a button. Light, comfortable, roomy (an 8 GB SD card could hold up to 10,000 books).

But whereas I think the paper newspaper will eventually bow out, I don't think (and hope not) the book will meet the same fate. Book readers are certainly not a ubiquitous as computers or cell phones, and although amazon.com's Kindle is doing its best to remedy that situation, I doubt that it will ever get there, if for no other reason than that books, the physical thing, the pages, the spine, the smell of it, all of these things, for me anyway, make up a sentimental and pleasurable whole that I would never want to part with, no matter how many books my digital ready may hold.

Still, check back with me fifty years from now.