You've just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you'd the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological implications of books that run on batteries.
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A Washington, D.C. caller wonders whether there's a difference between the words “grey” and “gray.” Do they designate exactly the same thing? Why are they spelled differently.
A California man says his mother used to respond to his inquiries about what they were going to do by telling him playfully, “We're going to Buxtehude!” Decades later, he wonders whether there really is a place called Buxtehude, or where in the world she got that phrase.
Grant shares his thoughts about the future of electronic books, and whether dog-eared pages with scribbles in the margins will one day go the way of the papyrus roll.
Re: "eat the covers."
Is it possible that this use of "eat the covers" is related to the expression “You give [or buy] 'em books, and all they do is eat the covers!”?
(Tenuous, I know.)
I can handle both formats of books: paper and pixel (i.e., electronic).
There are several advantages of using e-books:
• They aren't as heavy as their pulpy cousins.
• The pages don't tear.
• The pages don't “age” over time.
• You can't get papercuts.
• If you fall asleep while reading, you won't accidentally slam the book shut and lose your place.
• Searching for content is a cinch.
• If you take notes you can do it in a notepad (esp. electronic); as opposed to in the margin.
• You can usually edit the content (one way or another) if something is: a) misspelled, b) out of date, or c) needing insertion due to either complete absence (e.g., of an entire page) or typographic oversight (e.g., “hat” pro “that”).
• They usually cost much less than paperbound (“paperbound”, I know that sounds weird) books.
• When ordering a book, you don't have to wait 6-8 (or more) weeks for it to “arrive”.
• If you come across a word you don't know (especially if it is very long and hard to remember how to spell) and if your computer/device has a contextual-menu feature, you can often just highlight the word and look it up online.
• You can have hyperlinks and anchors which save you time having to thumb through other books (which you might not have handy).
• If you want to give someone a copy of a particular book, you can “e” it to them (that is, send/transfer it to them electronically).
• One less tree to chop down (literally).
Of course, paper books are still preferable in many ways:
• You don't need any extra equipment in order to read it.
• You don't have to scroll to “navigate” while reading.
• The print is usually larger and more legible (although it depends).
• They don't require you to download extra fonts.
• The images don't need to be anti-aliased (unless they were created/printed with a computer).
• Less exposure to radiation (however negligible it may be when behind a monitor or electronic screen).
• You don't have to wait for it to be platformed for your particular device/OS.
• You can read the original without having to worry about some ineffective OCR program having “misread” any obscure text. Mojibake anyone?
• If you drop one, you usually don't have to have it repaired.
• You can usually read them around water (e.g., at a pool, in the bathtub—although I never do…).
• They can't be accidentally deleted.
• They don't crash.
• They burn longer, thereby providing more warmth on a cold night, ha-ha! (Totally kidding! 😉 )
• Each has its own particular smell (to whomever may care; myself being one).
Anyway, I doubt either will entirely replace the other. So, it seems we'll just have to learn to live with both. GB? MB?
As a graphic designer who has worked in an art gallery, both gray/grey and theater/theatre came up often. I edited the newsletter, which was printed in black and white. In describing how I needed photo submissions, I would often ask for "greyscale" images. To me, "grey" seems softer. "Gray" seems heavy and plodding. And somehow, the artists understood what I meant.
As for the theater/theatre issue, we were adjacent to a community playhouse. There were a few others scattered around town. They all were theatres. But we also ran listings for the independent film series down at the local theater. So to my understanding (and enhancing Grant's "Theatre is the art / theater is the building" definition), "theatre" is live, and "theater" is film.
Love the show. Please keep it up!
On important thing that Martha and Grant didn't mention (perhaps because they didn't know) is that the bad thing about The Amazon Kindle and other readers is that the books are "protected" with DRM (digital restrictions management). This prevents you from doing what is perfectly legal to do with paperback books - lend them to others! Also, these e-readres do not allow you, in most circumstances, to resell the book. So if you use these devices you are losing your rights!
More here: http://defectivebydesign.org/DRMEbookFlyer
and http://defectivebydesign.org/KindleSwindle