Young Writers Society

I was reading the paper this morning (yes i read the paer; shut up) and I came across this article regarding an electronic device created by Sony called the e-book. Apparently its been out for several years but I'd never heard of it before.
This e-book stores books (several) in its memory and allows you to access them ie read them without lifting a finger. Sony hopes it will do for reading what the iPod did for music. I certainly hope it doesn't. Ive read books online and its just not the same as holding and reading a book in person. Its as if everything is being for the lazy person, its ridiculous! This thing needs to be stopped/destroyed.

There's nothing wrong with the book, its been around for centuries and its fine the way it is.
What does this mean for aspiring authors? How will we sell books? Will this wipe out the writing trade altogether?
Whats with everything becoming technologicalized?! (yes i know thats not a word, you know what i mean; shut up)

On second thought this might belong in the Debate and Serious discussion Forum. I think that this an issue concerning every member; which is why I put this here in the Lounge which is frequented a lot more than the Debate and Serious discussion Forum.

Also Dan Brown must die for endorsing this "e-book" crap!

If your open to change, and prefer people actually reading your book over paying a steep price for it, e-books are no problem. However, I would not have them interfere with books, because I simply can't (well I can, but I don't like it) read on a computer screen, the glare eventually gets to me and it feels to 'mechanical'. A book feels so organic, and there is no glare to damage your eyes or anything. Nonetheless, despite change, there will be loyalist writers who will pass the trade down, if e-books become what the DVD is becoming of the VHS.

Let us not forget that writing is a profession as well a passion. People write for a living; they need the money so that steep price you mentioned is actually necessary.

Yeah, I read about the e-books too!!! They sound cool, but it won't ever been the same as reading a real book

I don't like reading long things online very much. Like you said, the glare hurts my eyes. Besides (this is weird, so just go with it) it seems like it's not as important when it's onscreen instead of on a page. The process to publication is tedious and difficult, and books are almost always better resources than the internet because things must be checked and rechecked before put into print; any idiot can type something and post it online. Books seem to demand more respect.

And besides that, I smell the pages. I'm not going to start smelling my computer screen, thanks.

Well, there are people who live and breath books out there (us included) and they'd probably stick with books. I mean, it's different for music, isn't it? ipods are more convineent (spelling blank), but books are different. They're ... well, special. Take the "don't throw books" thing. EVERYONE can feel that books are special, even if they don't read.

Strange. I smell pages too. lol, and i completely agree about books demanding more respect. Despite this that idiot Dan B rown endorsed it, and as i said earlier he must die.

E-books have been around for a very long time, and I've found them to be extremely helpful.

Traditional books are fine; they are easier to read, more fun to read, and it's nice to be holding something physical. But, traditional books also require tremondous costs. The works fine for anyone that can get published by a big company, but most of us can't. That's where e-books do great.

E-books require absolutely no cost. You just submit your story to a website, and all of a sudden anyone has easy access to it. I've read a lot of good e-book novels that you absolutely cannot find in stores. And if you're good at marketing yourself, you can get a lot of people to read your book.

The best part about e-books is that they are free, for the most part. That makes it a lot easier to get people to read your stuff since they don't have to worry about the cost. That means you can get more people to read your stuff, which could eventually lead to you getting signed on to a publishing company.

I do prefer traditional books when I read, but e-books are great too. What I love most is that I can carry hundreds of books with me whereever I go. But still, if the book is available in print, I generally opt for print.

In the end, e-books fulfill a market that is not met by traditional books. And if you're trying to get read and eventually published, e-books are a great way to go.

I agree that e-books are a good idea, but personally I don't much like them - the glare, as Ari said, hurts my eyes. And Nate, I would have thought that eventually you'll have to pay for e-books, same as music downloads. Plus I think that there's something lovely about actually having something to hold - I just love books, full stop.
I am perfectly open to change; just not with books. Not yet. Unless they made them free, that wouldn't be a bad change

I've seen a lot of e-books on the Internet and I have read a couple that are pretty good. They aren't J.K. Rowling material but, they are still good reads. As Nate was saying e-books are a different market and it is good for aspiring authors. But, what bgbob is saying is also true. This little memory bank with a screen is slowly taking place of books and it will soon fully take place of them. I personally don't like the fact of that but, it's true. There are more tech freaks than there are book geeks (hey I rhymed!) and the larger majority is always what all of these businesses target.