Tag: Books

An image of an e-reader on top of a notebook and next to a cup of coffee.

Turning Science Fiction Into Reality

ksickles22

With the influence of the digital world growing every day, forms of media that used to exist only in the physical world have transitioned to becoming digital, and books are no exception. Experiencing stories in a digital space is no longer an idea that only exists in science fiction. However, how will books be presented through this new medium?

Written forms of communication have always formed around the materials that were used to distribute information. For example, written Chinese language was influenced by how

the strips [of the jiance] were so thin [that] scribes developed vertical ideograms that could be more easily written on them. (Borsuk, 2018, p. 27)

With that in mind, the future of the book lies in what materials we will be using to convey information. I predict that virtual reality will be a new frontier for books. For example, storybooks could be read in a virtual environment that reflects the setting of the story. This form of storytelling would be especially engaging for children’s stories.

At the very least, I can see all physically published books being published digitally as well. We are already very close to this end, as various teams such as Project Gutenburg work to digitize previously printed works. With this, however, I also expect new levels of protection to form around digital books. One issue with physical books is that

…their power to spread ideas makes them vulnerable to censorship, defacement, and destruction, particularly motivated by ideological and political difference. (Borsuk, 2018, p. 179)

With the rise of NFT’S, I could see similar methods being used to protect the content of digital books so that someone couldn’t hack the book and censor its content. By using blockchain methods, NFT’s provide authenticity certificates for digital media, and I can see the this being extended to digital books. This would provide a reliable archive of information that would be much more difficult to destroy or alter than a physical one.

While books may continue to exist as physical objects, there is no doubt that they will flourish in digital spaces. They are a cornerstone for knowledge and entertainment, and their presence will surely be seen in every medium possible.

“The Book: What it Means to Us”

cmarsh22

“A book is a gift you can open again and again.”  —Garrison Keillor

 

 

From clay tablets in ancient Sumeria to pictographs on papyrus scrolls in Egypt, to the first ever codex, to Guttenberg and the printing press, and finally to e-readers in the 21st century – the codex has evolved significantly throughout the ages.

With the help of the internet, we essentially have access to every book ever written – right at our fingertips. That does not mean that the traditional book is going the way of the dinosaur, though. 

While I will admit that virtually every book I currently own is in either audio or digital format, there is one book that I own that is in the traditional codex format of paper pages bound together. I purchased it as a souvenir from the very first Comicon I ever attended. Something that I couldn’t have done with a digital file.

A book printed in the codex format can serve more than one purpose.

One thing hard copies can do that digital versions cannot is that they can serve as souvenirs. Had I purchased an e-format or audio version of this book, it would have little to no sentimental value.

Sure, it would remind me of my first Comicon anytime I saw it while scrolling through my digital library, but it wouldn’t be the same.
The memories that would surface from seeing the title of the book inside a digital library pale in comparison to the actual image of the physical book.

People process images 60,000 times faster than text

Research has shown that human beings process images 60,000 faster than text. In addition, text is processed and stored in our short-term memories, whereas images tend to be stored in our long-term memories. This means that I can glance at my book on the bookcase and recall the memories I’ve associated with it for years to come.

Whereas the memories that could be recalled by simply looking at the book’s title on an e-reader would be minimal and short-lived. This isn’t the only thing that a traditional codex format has on an e-file, either.

If I decided to try and add to this book’s value or purpose, a digital format would limit how I could do that. I couldn’t display an audiobook to accentuate my home decor. I couldn’t bring an e-book to my next Comicon to have it signed by my favorite celebrities. An e-book won’t grow in value with time the way a well-preserved hardcopy will, either.

Digital formats indeed have features that physical copies could never possess – such as search bars and the ability to be saved to the cloud –  but they couldn’t hope to replicate the sentimental applications that a traditional codex format can.

The information in my book would, without a doubt, be easier to access in a digital format – but that is not what I love about it. To me, it is more than just some information printed on paper and bound together. For me, this book is a time machine. Both to the future – by reading the information contained within its pages – and to the past – where I can revisit one of the best experiences of my entire life.

Books have the power to transport us through time – in more ways than one
An image of the corner of a cookbook. The page is dog-eared.The beginning of a recipe for "Nutty Footballs" is shown.

Baked With Love

ksickles22

Sitting in a small bookshelf next to my bed sits an unassuming cookbook. It’s not flashy in design, and it touts no professional baker’s name on it’s cover. Yet, for almost a decade, this is the book I’ve reached for when I’ve wanted to bake.

An image of a bookshelf. On the far left sits a brown and tan cookbook with "Bake Sale" written in cursive font.
A bookshelf containing my cookbook, among other novels.

In terms of a codex, this book isn’t anything special. It appears to have section-sewn binding in a hardcover shell. While it does not store records of grain and cattle, this book is similar to early written texts because it serves a purely utilitarian purpose: to pass on and keep record of useful knowledge. This book is special not because of it’s construction, but of it’s personal history with me.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a baker, and subsequently wanted a cookbook of my own. On a trip from California to Portland, I stared in awe at the shelves of Powell’s Bookstore for the first time. From this magical store, my mother gifted me a cookbook filled with dessert recipes. I found the following statement on the inside cover:

Kylie Sickles ~

You will be a wonderful “baker” someday – Bake with your heart & you can never go wrong.

 

With Love,

Mom

July 8, 2013

It goes without explanation that I was very excited for this book. Even today, where my dreams no longer lie in the culinary world, I use this book often. While I am a terrible cook, I am a pretty decent baker, and this gift jumpstarted that development.

As a twenty year old college student, I thumb through the pages of this book and memories from my ten year old self flood to the surface. The dog-eared pages remind me what recipes excited me most, like the football cookies I had planned for Superbowl Sunday. Even recent memories lie hidden in these pages – my partner, who loves sweets, was wooed by recipes from between these covers. This is what makes the book so special. Sure, I could search the web for some dessert recipes, and I would even find hundreds more than what this book contains. This book, however, holds emotional value, from my mother’s note to the page corners I excited folded all those years ago. When I bake from this book, I am baking from the heart.