„Hofft nicht darauf, dass ihr die Bücher loswerden könnt!“ („Neue Massenmedien und die Zukunft des Buches " U. Eco) – Wie ist die Zukunft des Buches? Verschwindet einst das Buch?/ “Don’t hope to get rid of books!” (“New mass media and the future of books” U. Eco) - What is the future of books? Will books disappear?

Dagmar Wiegand - 07.02.2019 @ 17:47

The Future of Books

By Smilla Sundén Pettersson VKS Katedralskolan, Växjö, Sweden

I would like to begin this article with something rather controversial: it doesn’t matter if books survive the test of time. They are but vessels. The important thing is that the words remain.

With that said, I would like books to remain a common thing. A physical copy of a book is in my mind better than an e-book or something like that. A book is a thing of beauty, an invention and an artwork. There’s a reason we showcase them on shelves, we save space for them or have them littered around our rooms. They are symbols for the things we love. I can keep it with me, that specific poem or story, and I can show the world how much it means to me. The old expression “wearing your heart on your sleeve” means showing your emotions freely. I and many more wear my heart in pages and ink.

I have said that it does not matter if books disappear but the stories are another matter entirely. If we lose our stories, our poetry, our words, we lose our history and we lose ourselves in history. You can understand a lot about the past by the stories told and written during that time. You can understand a lot about a person from the stories and art they enjoy. When I am gone, the words I enjoyed and the words I wrote will be my only legacy; the only way future people will ever know me. If you take words away when I’m dead I lose nothing but the future loses me.

Have you ever felt that you love a story or a poem or anything so much that you want to wrap them around yourself like a blanket or crawl inside and become one with them? Well, if you have you are further fuelling my arguments. Humans are incredibly nostalgic, emotional and irrational. As Oscar Wilde once said: “I wonder who it was defined man as a rational animal. It was the most premature definition ever given. Man is many things, but he is not rational.” We stare at ink and dream of things we have never seen. That’s why we keep our books around us, these vessels. Humans are paradoxes of rationality and irrationality. Nostalgic for beauty and worlds we have never been a part of.  And wouldn’t it be stupid not to keep something that brings such joy around you? Books might be nothing but vessels but they hold something important in an artful packaging.           

                                                                                                   Photo by: Smilla Sundén Pettersson

I do not believe books will disappear for a long time. They are all too valuable to us, the readers. We love holding the pages in our hands, the smell of ink, the feeling of escaping from reality for a while and floating away. And even if books disappear, the words won’t. They will survive if humans do. They might even outlive us, but they’ll lose their worth when no one’s around to read them.

Anders Vannestål - 25.03.2019 @ 10:03

In your article, I found a lot of things that I fully agree with. I also prefer a physical copy of a book instead of a digital one. There is something about holding an actual book in your hands that makes the reading experience much better. They are a window to the story they tell, but only to their story, not to millions of stories, like an e-book reader would be. Holding a physical book in your hands makes feel as if you're reading something given to you by the author, a person that would like to tell you the story they wrote.

Fabien Spilker - 30.04.2019 @ 16:21

Ich finde, dass die Bücher jetzt Zukunft haben, aber das ist nicht so sicher. Die Zukunft von Büchern wird digital sein. Es wird auch in 50 Jahren noch neu auf Papier gedruckte Bücher geben. Diese werden aber ihren elektronischen Verwandten in Preis, und Verbreitung weit unterlegen sein. Die Digitalisierung hat nach den Vertriebswegen die Bücher selbst erfasst. Die Bedeutung elektronischer Bücher hat sich deutlich erhöht. Erstmal wegen des Umweltschutzes, weil wenn man nicht gedruckte Bücher benutzt, dann braucht man keine Holzung. Zweitens bevorzugen die Jugendlichen lieber die Handys, E-Bücher, also lieber Lesen auf dem Bildschirm als Lesen auf dem Buch. Ich mag lieber Lesen auf gedruckte Bücher, also, ich hoffe, dass ich noch viel Zeit, viele Möglichkeiten habe. Außerdem kann ich es mir nicht vorstellen, dass ich mein Lieblingsbuch "Hekja" von Jackie French nicht riechen und anfassen kann.

Zsuzsanna Kémenes - 02.06.2019 @ 22:01

I totally agree that the forms in which the books are currently published may, and probably will, change. I hope that people will never forget the literature of past years. Of course, mankind can't remember about all of them, because not all are worth remembering. Among the many that are just average or seem to be relevant only at present times, there have to be a few ones that absolutely stand out and may survive the test of time.

Although eBooks are becoming more and more popular, I don't think that traditional books will completely disappear. As you wrote, a physical copy of a book is also some sort of artwork and books can say a lot about the person that owns them. I myself consider my bookshelf as a decorative piece of my room. In addition to that, I personally find traditional books a more effective form of study material. I really enjoyed reading your article. The writing style is beautiful and I think that your point of view really added something different to the endless discussion about the future of books.

Martyna Kołek - 07.06.2019 @ 21:19

I am referring to your article about the future of books. I believe your article is about an interesting and contentious topic and I am convinced, that we will also deal with the topic in the future. Furthermore, I totally agree with you at the point, that it is something completely different, reading a printed book or an eBook, because the feeling is much different. In my case I also prefer to read a printed book and feel the pages in your hands, but in some cases I favour an eBook. They are much handier and you don't have to carry so many books, when you are leaving home. All in all, I believe, that printed books will never disappear because many people prefer for a good read a printed book.

Sandra Juffinger - 12.06.2019 @ 14:59

Hi Smilla!

I think that in future paper books will be replaced by electronic ones. It can be not only the text version on the computer screen, but also multimedia reading using specially designed devices. However, it seems to me, that even if the progress was so significant, the printed volumes will have their permanent admirers. They will not part with their favourite reading. At most there will be less choice. This can make life easier for blind people who could not use traditional texts. Another asset of electronics book is that, there are so much ecological. So there will definitely be pros and cons of the new situation.

Karolina Marona - 18.06.2019 @ 05:27

I don’t know what the future will look like, but apps like Kindle and Audible are becoming more and more popular and "easier" to take with. However, I do not like "digital books". I love the smell and find it great to be able to touch the pages. I cannot imagine a world without books with paper pages. Also, reading with devices for the eyes is not exactly recommended. Naturally, it is let you choose which variant you prefer.

Melike Aksak - 11.07.2019 @ 20:16

Ob Bücher in der Zukunft noch existieren werden, können wir jetzt noch nicht sagen. Aufgrund der Digitalisierung und dass sich viele daran gewöhnen, manches im Alltag nur noch digital zu machen, werden Bücher zwar noch gedruckt, aber kaum verkauft und das wird vielleicht auch schon bald das Ende der Bücher sein. Dazu kommt, dass digitale Bücher viel umweltfreundlicher sind und das Thema Umwelt auch in Zukunft noch eine wichtige Rolle spielen wird. Des Weiteren sollten wir auch nicht vergessen, dass oft nur noch die Generationen vor uns nicht zu digitalen Büchern greifen, weil sie es noch so kennen. Was passiert, wenn es nur noch auf uns mit dem Kauf der Bücher ankommt? Wir profitieren ja jetzt schon viel von der Digitalisierung, wie wird es bei uns in 30 Jahren sein? Wir können alle nur noch hoffen, dass die Bücher in Zukunft am Leben gehalten werden oder sogar selbst was dafür tun und nicht zu digitalen Büchern greifen.

Celina Rotthäuser - 23.08.2019 @ 20:22