What part do books play in todays modern society

[ironblob]

What part do you think books play in todays modern society? With all the new technology being developed, do you think that books will soon become out dated and a thing of the pass? Personally i think so. :banana:

[holdencaulfield]

no, i don't think so.look at harry potter. though it isn't first rate literature, does it strike you as something that is going to be soon outmoded?

[Vicz]

i agree wit 'im dat bks wll soon bcme out-d8d and tech wll tke ova. but wat da hell!! hu the hell cares? i'd rather sit and wtch a bk sittin der, instead of actualy pickin it up n readin it. its jst effort!! sayf bruv!!

[beer good]

I don't for a second think the format of printed text on paper will ever be outdated. As someone put it, you can't swat a fly with a rolled-up TV set. It's lasted for a few thousand years, it'll last for another few thousand.

The role of literature in society, and the TYPE of literature, on the other hand... Rick Moody said in a recent interview (http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/chapter-and-verse/12765/):
And what, finally, is more exiguous in the politics of the moment than reading? Virtually nothing in America supports reading as a way of life. Try reading in an airport. Are we seeing a development in which more and more people read fewer and fewer authors - not books? Are the Dan Browns and JK Rowlings taking over completely? I honestly don't know; it seems to me to be a trend, but I honestly cannot back it up with figures. But maybe that's another thread?

Oh, and could someone translate Vicz's posts into English?

[Nightshade]

errr ecuse me Victz but
what da **** R U doin' 'ere' den?
I dont think books or reading will ever disapear entirley but I do belive they may become increasingly more rare that said the number of libray goers and book readsers in the uk is actually on the increase :D :nod:

[beer good]

Sprtschk, fzzrt, mklt, lol.

[Vicz]

beer good? wat the **** was dat. plus, its not funny. why put lol.

[Pensive]

Science does not know its debt to imagination - Walph Waldo Emerson (I totally agree with Ralph W.E here)

Books enlarge your imagination or they are the source to express your imagination. Some books contain the experience and knowledge of people. Other novels are based on different new ideas for example some Science Fiction novels. And the other thing is that books are a source of pleasure.

[Jay]

I don't think no one will read books in 10 years. Why I think so? Take this forum for example. Do you think all of us would just give up reading books? I'm somewhat techno friendly, I DO read digi books, it has its advantages (eg 10 of them weight the same as 1000), but I'd prefer reading a real, smelly, textured, heavy (sometimes) book if I were to choose.

edit:
Or was the point whether people will READ books at all as opposed to WATCHING TV/computers/etc?

[The Unnamable]

but I'd prefer reading a real, smelly, textured, heavy (sometimes) book if I were to choose.
“Yet the one I think of most often,
the one that dangles from me like a locket,
was written in the copy of Catcher in the Rye
I borrowed from the local library
one slow, hot summer.
I was just beginning high school then,
reading books on a davenport in my parents' living room,
and I cannot tell you
how vastly my loneliness was deepened,
how poignant and amplified the world before me seemed,
when I found on one page

A few greasy looking smears
and next to them, written in soft pencil-
by a beautiful girl, I could tell,
whom I would never meet-
"Pardon the egg salad stains, but I'm in love."”

From Marginalia by Billy Collins

[Vicz]

i dnt belive al of u guys. u nd to get out and enjoy lfe as it is. wat the **** r u doin wastin ur times wif pieces of paper. go out there and enjoy gals, beer and late nite sleepin. 4get jobs. get a galfriend. im sure none of u r married or hve ne gal friends. u gota gt a lyf yall. u cool? sayf! btw, get a movie, not a book :D

[kilted exile]

i dnt belive al of u guys. u nd to get out and enjoy lfe as it is. wat the **** r u doin wastin ur times wif pieces of paper. go out there and enjoy gals, beer and late nite sleepin. 4get jobs. get a galfriend. im sure none of u r married or hve ne gal friends. u gota gt a lyf yall. u cool? sayf! btw, get a movie, not a book :D

I'm beginning to think this must be some kind of joke.....wonder at what point someone will admit to being the voice behind Vicz

[Aces]

I'm beginning to think this must be some kind of joke.....wonder at what point someone will admit to being the voice behind Vicz

That would be me!

...just kidding.

I think that eBooks are much more convienent than physical, hardcover books (try walking around with a bag full of them; if you're like me, you'll tire easily), but after some hours on the computer screen, my eyes start feeling strained. Also, I like having an actual, physical book; just a personal quirk.

It does seem like there is a chance paper books will make way for digital ones, what with all the laptops and iPods and GameBoys storing pages and pages and text and all. But once again, it's rather eye-straining (dunno if this only applies to me or what.)

[kilted exile]

That would be me!

Or it could turn into Spartacus

[WaxDoll]

I don’t think books will die out anytime soon. What are the chances that the millions of people out there that enjoy reading will just stop? For me at least, books are like an escape from real-life, where fairy-tale endings are always possible, and for once, there’s someone else that’s more screwed than you to worry about. They make you think, feel, believe again in things you never would have before. Sure, television, GameBoys, PS2s, etc have their perks, but books have always been, and will always be the original for many of us.

[Scheherazade]

Please do not personalise your comments.

[beer good]

Speaking of television, I've yet to see any mention anywhere that this year is the 70th anniversary of both the first high-definition TV broadcasts and the first live TV coverage of a major event (the 1936 Olympics).

70 years is an awfully long time. Yet people still read books. Weird.

[WaxDoll]

Please do not personalise your comments.
Sorry Sche :goof: My bad :D I got rid of it....