Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Future of Books

Ezra Klein is a convert to e-books, particularly enjoying the instant access anywhere.

Megan McArdle weighs in here, betting on the logic of innovation, arguing (as in the Innovator's Dilemma) that advantages in some areas are sufficient for innovations to succeed.

The posts were triggered by the report Amazon is selling more e-books than printed books.

James Suroweicki in the New Yorker (not now available on-line) argues part of the reason the US does well is we've got a lot of consumers who are willing to take the risk of buying innovative products.  

Personally I don't have a Kindle, though I do have the app on my PC.  One of the things on my to-do list is to look at the Fairfax County library's e-book program, which doesn't yet extend to Amazon.  Probably I'll buy a reader when it looks as though I can get more books faster from the library that way.  As I get older I get less interested in innovations. I'm not sure whether that's age or the idea the upfront costs in time and energy compared to the benefits over a limited life-span become more and more daunting.

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