The debate pages, sorry, rages.
Will Ebooks spell an end to traditional hard and paperbacks?
There's compelling evidence from the high street that they will. Music stores closing down. Bookshops disappearing from the scene faster than a murder victim in an opening chapter. People wandering around, heads buried in their phones and kindles.
But I say all's not doom and gloom for the traditional book. There's life in it yet, and here's why.
Screen fatigue.
Not an official medical condition, but one that will be familiar to anyone who works with computer screens all day and experiences the accompanying tiredness of eye. The strain. The flickering eyelid. The watering as the pixels burn into the retina.
We all need to give our eyes a break. Staring at a screen for eight hours at work and staring at a screen to and from work can't be good for us. Moderation and all that.
Paper based books are the answer. Easy on the eye.
There will soon be a backlash, mark my words (on a piece of paper, not a screen).
I'm no doctor, but there'll soon be health gurus out there calling for people to restrict their screen exposure. 'Eight hours a day, max,' they'll say. Or Des, if you're not called Max.
'Read a book,' they'll say. 'One where you turn the pages not flick a button. Choose paper not pixels!'
Some will heed the advice. Many won't.
It will be a few years before we discover the true damage all this screen exposure is doing to us. Let's hope there's still some bookshops around then to save us...
Will Ebooks spell an end to traditional hard and paperbacks?
There's compelling evidence from the high street that they will. Music stores closing down. Bookshops disappearing from the scene faster than a murder victim in an opening chapter. People wandering around, heads buried in their phones and kindles.
But I say all's not doom and gloom for the traditional book. There's life in it yet, and here's why.
Screen fatigue.
Not an official medical condition, but one that will be familiar to anyone who works with computer screens all day and experiences the accompanying tiredness of eye. The strain. The flickering eyelid. The watering as the pixels burn into the retina.
We all need to give our eyes a break. Staring at a screen for eight hours at work and staring at a screen to and from work can't be good for us. Moderation and all that.
Paper based books are the answer. Easy on the eye.
There will soon be a backlash, mark my words (on a piece of paper, not a screen).
I'm no doctor, but there'll soon be health gurus out there calling for people to restrict their screen exposure. 'Eight hours a day, max,' they'll say. Or Des, if you're not called Max.
'Read a book,' they'll say. 'One where you turn the pages not flick a button. Choose paper not pixels!'
Some will heed the advice. Many won't.
It will be a few years before we discover the true damage all this screen exposure is doing to us. Let's hope there's still some bookshops around then to save us...
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