tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post6740160549744005075..comments2024-01-06T10:36:04.084-05:00Comments on A Commonplace Blog: Spatial form and electronic textsD. G. Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-72372805171072637982010-08-03T14:01:47.592-04:002010-08-03T14:01:47.592-04:00scot g.f.bailey made an excellent point about the ...scot g.f.bailey made an excellent point about the beauty of the book being replaced by the ugliness of e-readers out of convenience or practicality. Makers and fans of the e-reader, ironically, hold very mechanical ideas about what the "point" of reading really is. They believe it is the act of mentally processing written information and the more readily and easily available it is, the better.<br />However, they exclude the fact that reading is an experience. Books are sensual objects and the crackle of a newly opened cover, the smoothness of the page, the smell, the way it feels in your hand, the triumph of snapping it closed when you are done- these are the pleasures of reading a book that have gone unnoticed until the Kindle (nook etc.) entered the scene.<br />Books vary in size, shape, color, texture, page material, and so on. Each one is a work of art. Why do we wish to replace art with identical white machines with identical texts and identical "experiences"? True, they take up less space and use fewer trees. But one of the greatest attributes of humanity is our ability to write- to use letters and words to make stories, create new worlds, spark ideas, inspire each other and stimulate creativity and progression. Isn't that worthy of art?The Militant Working Boyhttp://celluloidkitchen.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-7850408361133911012010-06-30T12:02:27.666-04:002010-06-30T12:02:27.666-04:00I said as much in my first post, Adlai. Like most ...I said as much in my first post, Adlai. Like most Apple products—I am a Mac user—the iPad seems more “natural,” more “intuitive,” than competing systems.<br /><br />But still I wonder. Can technology duplicate <i>thumbing</i> a book? And while I subscribe to the new motto that “<a href="http://dgmyers.blogspot.com/2009/03/future-of-book.html" rel="nofollow">Search Is Everything</a>,” I also worry that algorithm-driven searches, as opposed to the discovery of spatial patterns through the experience of reading a three-dimensional book, is merely an abridgment.D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-70896240266232048592010-06-30T10:27:05.717-04:002010-06-30T10:27:05.717-04:00Your complaint is really about the technology, not...Your complaint is really about the technology, not the concept. An reader should be at least 15 inches diagonal display, and have the software that would allow for easier browsing through a text. I think the iPad is closer in this than the Kindle.A. Jurekhttp://fictionwritingthoughts.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-22765065795830530472010-06-29T14:19:31.596-04:002010-06-29T14:19:31.596-04:00Scott,
A particularly brilliant point about the b...Scott,<br /><br />A particularly brilliant point about the book as an object of beauty.<br /><br />One aspect of electronic reading that I have yet to describe is the ungainliness if not quite the ugliness of the “type” on the “page.” <br /><br />Electronic readers do not know how to “justify” lines attractively, because they do not hyphenate words, and sometimes the spacing is distracting, as a consequence. And the typefaces are bland and utilitarian—short serifs, nothing with character.<br /><br />What is more, the running heads are gone, making it even more difficult to page quickly through a text. Widows are commonplace, and though I realize that more and more printing houses ignore widows, they continue to annoy me. I shouldn’t be noticing them.<br /><br />The best printed texts are not merely objects of beauty, but transparent at the same time—an almost unheard accompaniment to great writing.D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-51761744701186107092010-06-29T14:09:17.835-04:002010-06-29T14:09:17.835-04:00I remember about 15 years ago (perhaps it was less...I remember about 15 years ago (perhaps it was less recent than that) the claim was made that the mere existance of HTML and hyperlink jumps would radically change the way narratives were structured, sweeping away the old-fashioned linear forms. Electronic media have not, I don't believe, revolutionized narrative. But perhaps that's a different discussion.<br /><br />The thing about e-readers is that they are ugly things, and we are being asked by commercial interests to accept these ugly objects and let go objects of beauty. The book-as-object idea gets ridiculed by e-reader fans, but I think that any movement that pulls culture away from beauty is a step in the wrong direction. The aesthetic experience of reading is important, as is the aesthetic experience of everything. Computers in general force us to view the world in a limited way and corral our vision into a space whose walls are made of windows and truetype fonts and drop down menus and all sorts of things that are ugly, and we are becoming desensitized to beauty. I don't care about the convenience of the kindle, nook, ipad, whathaveyou. Is function truly more important than form? If so, what does that say about our opinion of humanity itself? This is my worry over the digital future in general.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-35643508217990504932010-06-29T13:55:02.498-04:002010-06-29T13:55:02.498-04:00Your analysis of reading strategies, particularly ...Your analysis of reading strategies, particularly as they involve physical as well as cognitive maneuvers, reminds me of how changes in technologies, throughout history, have forced readers to adapt. Think of the movement from hand written scrolls to hand written paged books to printed books to electronic books. This raises a question: is technological evolution necessarily real improvement or is it a return to the basics? After all, there is a lot to be said for hand written scrolls and the reading strategies that were (are) needed; now, we find ourselves using the nearly identical strategies when we scroll through (pun intended) the electronic texts on modern devices. So, the more things change, the more they remain the same. Well, it is something to think about.<br /><br />(Word verification: scarwit. Gee, I hope the Google-generated W/V is not trying to tell me something there!)R/Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07791522136032565027noreply@blogger.com