[News] When will printed media become obsolete?

Originally Posted by Timberwolf8889

That and there's something terrifying about the prospect of losing my e-reader, or my hard drive crashing and losing ALL of my books. I know they're replaceable (like real books) but yeah.

This tends to be one of the main problems with all of our shifts towards digital media. The lifetime on information has dropped off pretty radically as we've moved towards newer forms of storage. The usable lifetime on bricks could be measured in 1000's of years, the lifetime for paper was 100's if not more, while items like CDs are having recovery issues after 10's of years. We may reach a point where we're simply copying back and forth constantly because our media ages so fast - kind of a reverse singularity.

Originally Posted by Capo

There's something intangible about holding a book in your hands, flipping the pages - even the fucking smell - that a Kindle clearly lacks.

There's nothing particularly intangible about the items you mentioned, and while the Kindle may lack them, all are approachable with changes in technology. They already have designer smells, and creating an interface where you can actually flip, touch, move, ect... the electronic paper, is likely not impossible.

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Well, that digital attitude was the same (that of thinking digital will replace everything) in the film world, but many cinematographers/photographers still use film because there's just something missing from a digital print.

While there will always be people who will prefer a different medium, over time they could become a subset rather than the norm for the industry (film or books). Like in music, there will always be folks who want vinyl for the perceived sound quality, but the general trend has consistently been towards accessibility, customizability, and ease of use, as with most industries. While many film-makers have continued to use cellulose, there is also a significant set who have embraced digital for the ease of manipulation it offers. There's also a strong monetary incentive this direction, as you can either a) shoot in a crazy location, b) build an amazing set, or c) shoot on some green and then edit in the crazy. Due to scarcity, and to get the most bang for their buck, many will choose option c) so they can spend their money elsewhere.

On the book question specifically, I think it will take quite a while to reach the point of "obsolete", but I think we will see a drastic reduction in traditional printed media.

Jam it back in, in the dark.