Yesterday Eric Alterman, the historian and journalist who blogs at Media Matters, linked to yet another frightening article about the collapse of the book business in the USA this fall. Nobody's buying books, they said.
I had just returned from shopping at my local bookstore, where the cash register was ringing non-stop. Alterman printed my letter about it today:
Media Matters - Slacker Friday.
Shop the Laurel District, and stop by Laurel Books, MacArthur Boulevard @39th Avenue, Oakland, CA! Buying local books means supporting your neighborhood and city. Defend civilization: buy a book!
I'm still not convinced that civilization will collapse when hardcopy goes away. Have you ever seen the Amazon Kindle live and in person? It's slick and comfortable to hold. The upcoming Plastic Logic reader (http://www.plasticlogic.com/product.html) is so beautiful that, as a nerd, I can only look at the photo briefly, out of the corner of my eyes. Your grandchildren are going to be puzzled when you speak of "books."
Posted by: Alison Chaiken | December 19, 2008 at 08:52 PM