Tolkien on the Kindle

[Mister Underhill]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I heard a feature on the radio yesterday though that was saying how now the print on demand technology has improved and all books exist digitally books you should always be able to get a hard copy.

Yes, print-on-demand was what I had in mind when I added the "by far the most convenient" caveat. It'll be interesting to see how the technology develops there. All too often POD books are characterized by low production values, and are more expensive and less easy to acquire than an ebook.

Originally Posted by JRR Tolkien

Long ago Chesterton truly remarked that, as soon as he heard that anything “had come to stay,” he knew that it would be very soon replaced—indeed regarded as pitiably obsolete and shabby .

Heh -- you mean like paper books? Brick-and-mortar bookstores? Vinyl, cassettes, CDs? Anyway, I didn't say that ebooks were here to stay, only that they appear to be the next thing. No doubt the written word itself will someday become obsolete after we all upload and transcend biology (). In the meantime, mass market paperbacks are already on their way out.

I take no delight at all in watching the paper book become an endangered animal. On the contrary, my house is partially furnished with them, and I've lugged many hundreds of pounds worth around with me wherever I go ever since I moved out of my parents' house to attend college lo these many years ago. I still buy paper books. I still hunger for some of the beautiful rare editions that I can't quite justify financially.

But the writing is on the wall, and I prefer to embrace the upsides of ebooks (democratization of content, more money per sale into the pocket of the author in many cases, convenience, searchable, etc.).

Bêthberry, my dear -- you already can highlight and annotate electronic editions. Although, as with others here, I never scribble in my books and I've never felt compelled to try out the feature on the Kindle.