September 9, 2008

Digital Downloads vs. Books as Objects

Ted Savas has recently asked readers at his blog about the viability or interest in his company producing digital downloads of various Savas titles. I was one of the seven who responded "no" and for me at least, the whole issue has to do with books being something more than just a medium for delivering information or data.

My sense is that for all or at least many who answered yes or maybe, that may not be the case; that for them, the delivery medium is perhaps irrelevant. I may be way off base, but I suspect most of these readers are relatively young. For other old-school types like me, a book is a physical object that has an intrinsic worth or value that transcends mere words on a page. There is something about its heft, feel, visual design or even smell that creates sensory enjoyment that goes beyond simply reading and absorbing information. So with that in mind, I've created another poll at left that's a combination of yes/no answers and age. I'd like to know if there's any correlation between age and viewing books as desirable objects or just as transmittors of data.


No comments: