Sunday, May 14, 2006
I wonder ...
Suppose a day comes when it's no longer possible to protect copyright. Meanimg there won't there won't be any money - or at least a lot less in most cases - in writing. Will as many people still want to write and publish? These thoughts came to me while reading through this piece that Dave Lull sent along: Scan This Book!
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After reading the article, I was left with an urge to go find my favorite poetry: some of it contains references, obscure and otherwise, to other poems -- references that highlight and add to its meaning.
ReplyDeleteIn a world where you can! link to other works wouldn't it be marvelous to know -- not have to indicate with underlines or other color tricks -- that you could click a word or a phrase to get more information or be linked to the referenced work? That's possible today. We don't do it.
I'm particularly sensitive to copyright -- but I believe that people create because they need to, not because they think of the money.
We write in electronic mediums now. In the future, if printing a book were the choice of the reader (i.e. you pay $1 to download the electronic version, or you can pay the publisher to print-on-demand for you for $7) more people would buy the 1$ book. We have a paradigm - iTunes is hugely sucessful.
That's really where we're going. It makes me sad. My father works in the printing industry. It's a dying animal thanks to top-quality copiers and to the paperless push. It's an art, just as book bindery is.
We're gaining a world where anything you want to read can be yours. Will we lose the one where there's a rush at the feel of a book in the palm of your hand, one that cracks a little when you first open it, and breathe in the scent of new paper of ink? Or the spicy-decay of an old one?
Laugh - sorry. I'm in love with books. I guess it shows. Great article. Thanks.