08.25.2011

More On Books

A sort of thank you.

I know how scattered and weak my last article on physical books was. It was scattered and weak because I'm still formulating my thoughts on the matter but I wanted to publish the thoughts that were in my head as a way to state - to put on paper, so to speak - what I believe to be true about books and their role in the institution that is a publication. I'm still exploring these ideas. Many of them are not my own but I agree with them and believe in them whole-heartedly.

It ought to be said that my views on the matter of physical books are highly influenced by a few fine folks: Khoi Vinh of subtraction.com believes that copying and pasting a printed book in to a digital device is the wrong thinking and I agree. Craig Mod of craigmod.com believes that books are more than paper and ink; the social conversation is just as much a part of what makes up a publication and I agree. Jeffrey Zeldman and the amazing team behind A Book Apart have proven that you can take ideas that have been discussed and scrutinized and made better in a digital form and turn them into a physical form record and that that record is important and profitable. And I agree.

More to come.

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