Print Books...Will They Last The Next 5 Years?
Print books. A thing of the past? Possibly so. As kids most of us began by reading short paper books that included lots of pictures and short sentences. The physical act of holding a book has been instilled into our brains since we were children. Nowadays, children are still receiving that physical act but holding Ipads or some sort of tablet in place of real physical books. The age of e-readers and ebooks is here and is here to stay. The question is will it wipe out books completely? Here is a short analysis and prediction as to what will become of books in the next 5 years.
Let’s begin with one of the biggest indicators of the downfall of books. The bankruptcy filed by Borders, the widely known bookstore. The news of their bankruptcy had publishers worried that they would not be paid, which was the case. Borders could not pay their publishers and that led to the beginning of distrusting book stores. The ultimate reason for Borders downfall was that they over expanded themselves but also because once e-readers became a thing of the future, they could not compete. When Amazon created their Kindle, Barnes & Noble created their Nook. Borders tried to compete with that by introducing six new devices, none of which gained the popularity they expected from consumers. The end of Borders marked a subtle change in the book store game. This is one of the main reasons as to why books may be a thing of the past soon. Book stores are seen as a stop along the way where customers enter, browse the shelves, and then go home and order books online for what they think is cheaper. On the publishing side, this makes publishers skeptical is book stores will be able to compete with ebooks. Publishers will go where the money is, it is more and more likely now that the money is all through e-readers and ebooks.
According to the book But What If We’re Wrong? by Chuck Klosterman, he touches on the subject of books and literature in the introduction section. He explains how Moby-Dick is “ a transformative literary innovation that helps define how novels are supposed to be viewed” (Klosterman, 8). This is what books are all about, not every book will be a winner to every person out there but they are to be viewed differently by everyone and yet viewed in the same way. Books are often viewed as the “gateway to knowledge” and although that may be true, the way books are read (whether through a physical book or on a screen) does not diminish the quality of what is being read by the individual. Klosterman also seeks to explain this notion of “objective and subjective wrongness” (Klosterman, 9). This is how the future of books can possibly be determined. “Subjective wrongness” is explained as knowing something to be true but not caring enough about it until many years later on. This is what could be happening to books. Yes, we all know books help us gain knowledge and expand our vocabulary but we may have forgotten just how important physical book are and will not realize it until years down the road. Again, this is why the importance of books is dying down, because we know the same content can be read through ebooks. The form of passing knowledge through print has been dated back to the days of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the movable printing press. Is this method so outdated that mankind feels it is time for an upgrade?
Generation theory could have something to do with the downfall of books. As mentioned in the beginning, the children of today are taught more through tablets and looking at a screen almost all day. This would lead them to always rely and turn to those tablets and e-readers. They are so used to the idea of being connected online and reading everything on a screen that they will not even realize just how much they depend on it. The generation of today will continue their use of tablets and will see little to no need for physical books anymore. How do highschool and college students do their research nowadays? Online. How do they access books they read for pleasure and textbooks used for class? Online. This generation is connected through online sources and when and if they turn to reading, it will be looking through a screen.
Through SWOT analysis it is easy to see that print books have more weaknesses and threats than strengths and opportunities. Weaknesses and threats include: outdated methods, expensive process, dying bookstores, environmental impact (paper printing), hard to access, not very durable, e-readers and ebooks. Strengths and opportunities include: licensing and copyright is easier to achieve with print books, content is the same, textbooks, and so many are already printed that it will be hard to get rid of them all together. More weaknesses and threats to print books is not a good sign for their future. Their future ahead is certainly threatened but will print books become fully extinct?
The future of books in the next five years looks a little something like this: digital books will continue to thrive and at an increasing rate, print books will see difficulties in competing with ebooks, and ultimately print books will not cease to exist in the next 5 years. The reason being that there are so many print books already that there is no way all of them will be gone in 5 years. Especially the old and historical books we all rely on. Actually printing books may slow down or even stop in the next 5 years but print books will always be around. There are too many libraries around the world for them to disappear and all the print books to vanish. Within the next 5 years, print books will still be alive and well but will see a decrease in sales and in publishing itself. E-readers and ebooks do offer faster and easier access to reading but will not disrupt the use of print books altogether. Owners of bookstores will also fight to keep the nostalgia alive of walking through and bookstore and finding that perfect book to read. People go to bookstores to feel the experience and the community of literature culture around them. That feeling will always be sought out by those who have experienced it and continue to want it. Overall, print books are here to stay and will be here for at least the next 5 years.