The link below is to a great article on one of my favorite websites – the Internet Archive. The Internet Archive is also setting up a ‘hard copy ark,’ in which they are trying to save a copy of every book for the future. It’s a great site and a great idea.
For more visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/technology/internet-archives-repository-collects-thousands-of-books.html
The article below reports on the ‘Little Free Library’ movement, which seems to be a very interesting concept.
http://grist.org/list/mailbox-sized-libraries-bring-book-lending-right-to-your-yard/
The article below is an opinion piece on the future of bookshops. It was not written by me, but may be of interest to readers.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/time-goodbye-bricks-mortar-bookstores-opinion/
For those who may be interested in my opinion – I think bookshop owners need to seriously consider an online option for their store. I do not believe that bookshops can survive long into the future without an online presence, which includes a delivery capability.
Another article on the debate between those who like Ebooks and those that don’t.
http://mashable.com/2012/01/30/jonathan-franzen-ebooks/
For those who may be interested in my opinion – I love them for a whole host of reasons. I may have to put together a post or three on that.
I have come across an interesting article on the future of books in The Australian newspaper.
The following article from Australia’s newspaper ‘The Australian,’ reports on small business minister Nick Sherry’s opinion that there will be very few offline bookstores in the future. Bookshops will be largely an online business. What do you think?
See the article mentioned above at:
http://goo.gl/tQ8Hu
The following article Wired lists five reasons as to why ebooks are not there yet. I would say that ebooks will never be the same as traditional books and they probably are never meant to be the same. I would also say you should probably never expect them to be the same. Television is not the same as going to the movies and never will be. I think waiting for ebooks to be the same as traditional books is to ensure you never use ebooks all that much. Just my opinion.
There are some useful considerations in the five points raised in the article – but there are also some fairly ordinary ones also, which suggest to me a bias against ebooks from the start. Being concerned that ebooks don’t allow you to use them in home design – I mean, really??? If that is a major concern with ebooks – you have to be kidding.
Some years ago I never thought I would ever like ebooks – I love them now and I don’t even have an ebook reader (I use by laptop) at this stage. I can see myself buying one in the near future – that would make ebooks so much more convenient to me. I could read one on a bus or ferry, I could read at work without too many difficulties (in my breaks of course), etc.
How many books can I now own? For a bibliophile like me ebooks are a dream come true. I have well over 1000 traditional books and I will soon eclipse that number in ebooks – many of which are old and out of print works which are very precious to me. These brilliant old books are now so accessible to me and I can store them all in such a small place. Fantastic I say.
See the article mentioned above at:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/ebooks-not-there-yet/all/1
The following article at AbeBooks.com is an amusing account of things found in books – presumably used as bookmarks. Its a short, good read.
http://www.abebooks.com/docs/Community/Featured/found-in-books.shtml
Why not share what you use for bookmarks in the comments section? Would be interested to read what you use.
I have come across an article about a new social network for book lovers called Bookish. Check out both the article and the site below.
For more visit:
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/hachette-penguin-simon-schuster-aolhuffpo-team-up-for-bookish_b29478
Visit Bookish at:
http://bookish.com/
Francis Tan has recently posted on ‘The Next Web’ site a post called ‘Why Books Will Probably Never Die.’ It is about the future of the written word and ebooks. Worth a read.
To Read the article visit:
http://thenextweb.com/media/2011/04/22/why-books-will-probably-never-die/
At the BookShelf 
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