Orgy Raylene Richards

The book is about to disappear ... actually no!

Courtesy of the publisher Nova Chart to replay donut Giancarlo Petrella's article appeared in the "Charta. Antiq uariato, collecting, the market ', 106, November-December 2009, pp. 28-33

The book is about to sco mparire ... actually no!

all'ebook from the roll, an inalienable right

Giancarlo Petrella

Recently, frequently associated with moving some books that took place during my childhood. There was first cleared by the medical library of my father alone with his books and magazines were filled with large boxes (in recent years has finally decided to get rid of some journals of cardiology let's say of yesteryear!). Then you add books to my mother, to begin his university days. Finally, what was even then seemed to me the most interesting portion of the bookshelf at home, namely that free lectures open to the entire family. To me it was to secure the only book I could not help but (now on my bookshelf waiting to pass to my daughter), the Italian folktales collected from popular tradition and transcribed language in the various dialects by Italo Calvino published by Einaudi. You will understand then, that in recent years, whenever I hear news of an approaching contraption that can hold thousands of books alone, I can not help but to think with regret how difficult we could have avoided. This summer I even tried to convince my father to digitize at least its medical library and looked forward to the opportunity to have everything they need in the palm of your hand, conveniently available with a simple click. I followed first perplexed, then argued that, despite having only recently celebrated the sixty, has difficulty to keep pace with technological acceleration in recent years, and finally delivered the fateful question: "if we remove the books, what we put in place on libraries?". I could not answer. Also because I wondered then if you could still call libraries or should we rather use a more neutral shelves. Although you will agree that in terms of ' interior design is not quite the same thing. I can hardly think of a room where, instead of books, there is a large screen on which to display the appropriate text you want. [...] I feel deep sadness, despite the hassles mentioned above, to imagine a house without books. [...] I think of many who, over the centuries, have bought books designed to give the house an air of classical elegance. The notary deputy Antoine Boulard Marie Henry († 1825) bought them at the metro, the shops along the Seine, using a graduated stick. At length he came to put together a little less than 800,000 volumes, some occupying whole houses. Now you just need some ebook reader with an excellent memory.

KINDLE VERSION

The magic box, which was launched a few years ago from Amazon in the U.S. market, industry leaders, by the name of a very pleasant Kindle. Originally it could hold something like 1500 books (even if the claim is rather vague, since The Brothers Karamazov also believe the digital version will remain much larger quantities of The Desert of the Tartars ). The latest version of DX Kindle has increased the capacity up to 3500. [...] Obviously, the campaign is the strong point of comparison with the cost antiquated paper book: an average savings from the reader Kindle 50 to 60% on the cover price. [...] The electronic book indeed eliminates the costs of printing, binding, storage, distribution. Who would then subscribe to major newspapers online, you will receive every morning on your drive daily newspaper (but why take away the pleasure of having breakfast with the daily paper just taken out the door?). [...] I think it is especially necessary to distinguish between reading and consultation for the purpose of recreation. In the first case the advantages of an electronic library are undoubtedly important, as some years we are learning from the digitalization of many books, especially those outside the market, led by Google books. [...] It goes without saying that Kindle books can also search Google and infinitely faster and larger than those possible in traditional paper form. The same is probably also traveled the road that leads to the use of ' ebook in educational publishing, exploiting the economic benefits and space for students.

SOME DISADVANTAGES

Diversa I think the response of the reader accustomed to reading novels in the usual and familiar paper. In this case, Kindle, as well as some disadvantages (as tiring to read an ebook than a paper book?), Faces even more of an understandable concern. L ' ebook significantly restricts the enjoyment that comes from reading. Forget the fact that reading involves a physical relationship with the book, which affects not only the view, but also the sense of smell (the smell of newly printed book, or one of the old books we read as children, on which the pleasant M. Giancaspro, The smell of books , Naples, Grimaldi, 2007) and touch (Paper, the mark left by the characters on the sheet at the time of the impression in the case of the printing press, to the materials used in the more sophisticated bindings). [...] None of this stands in electronic form, of course, where he remained only the text, always the same and indifferent.

The concerns are also exacerbated by the excessive speed at which technological development proceeds. Operating systems early age and who wished to transfer the entire library in electronic form runs, ironically, the risk of being in twenty years with no more books, no paper or electronic. I smile at the thought of the piles of videotapes soon unusable because of the difficulty of finding a VCR on the market longer in production. The collectors of opera are not able to predict until their cd can keep intact the valuable music content. From this point of view of the operating system fielded by the book seems to date the most reliable. It is perhaps worth recalling that the object spoken of, or the book as we know it today, consists of a series of cases of paper or other material (even the futuristic revolutionary book, while tin was still a book all intents and purposes) sewn together along the back of the form code, is an invention resisting for nearly two millennia. The critical step, one that can be called the real revolution in this area occurred between the second and fourth century AD, when the usual form to date for transmitting text, the scroll, gave way to the code. [...]

marginal issues

relevant here insist on the advantages that the form code introduced in the history of books and reading a book that makes the instrument difficult to perfect. Practicality, in primarily : usually the roll contained the text in a series of columns written on one side, wrapped around two sticks, to be read to require a rolling and unrolling a simultaneous. Once you come to an end the player was with the spiral was reversed and then unroll it again because the reader could use it later. Something similar happened with the old video cassettes. Everyone will ever hire one that the previous client had not had the foresight to rewind. Once entered into our VCR ran the credits instead of the beginning of the film and so the tedious task of rewinding it was up to us. The code solved the problem once and for all: the text is in fact within the reach of the reader in its entirety with the simple act of turning the pages. In some ways the ' ebook is a step back, at least from this point of view. As for the actual reduction in the size of the book, here Kindle can really envisage the realization of a dream: to own a whole library in one hand, as stated in precisely the slogan dall'Amazon. While not forgetting the precedents: Manutius in 1501 officially launched the paperback in the eighth, Alessandro Paganini few years later launched a necklace and even a 16 ° in 24 °, personally designed a course that could accommodate the tiny size without going to the expense of readability. It goes without saying that the form of book reading and then affects the relationship you have with the text. A completely spontaneous gesture, dare I say normal, that is read with a pencil in hand, taking notes (provided of course the book is owned by us!), Practice is structurally incompatible with the roll and also be easily replicated by ebook reader , despite promises Kindle genuine scope to include lecture notes. The book leaves your hands free to point out however, written notes in the margins, thus stimulating the exchange and dialogue between author and reader. These in turn asserts its right to take notes, whether notabilia or simple observations of aesthetic taste. [...]

GIFTS AND THEFT

Write while you read is almost inherent in an exercise book that involves a kind of appropriation of the text and the book as object the reader. I propose some reflections on a special class of notes penned the book as an object. Here too, a sad prospect Kindle revolution. Disappears such dedication, it is official or private, loving and sincere gesture by which for centuries have accompanied the gift of a book, especially a woman. Honestly, I would have difficulty send to my wife as an annex to mail the electronic version of a book to download is on his personal drive. Carefully protect books faded, old, just because the first page bearing the dedication of a loved one. On a shot of the notes held by the secular tradition of ex libris , which establishes the ownership of the volume and its entrance in a larger collection, even curses against those who dared to steal the volume. I remember a copy of the very valuable Comedy of Dante printed in Brescia in 1487 by Bonini Bonino on which the librarian of the convent of St. camaldolese Mattia di Murano to whom the book belonged to provident penned a rather ominous note: "Do not videat Cristum quisquis furabitur istum Asperat Cristum quisquis furabitur istum. books, have always been attractive items. The thefts were quite frequent and were using every trick to avoid them. From this point of view Kindle makes the situation worse. If the theft of a volume removes one or more works, now we run the risk of losing thousands of books in one fell swoop. Not so much to annoy the cost dell'aggeggio, as having to download thousands of new securities. A little 'as when they steal your phone with the entire section of our contacts. There is especially a basic misunderstanding, in my opinion. Technology has always sought to address the human effort developing tools which give assistance to the man in daily tasks. Kindle thinks in the same direction. In short, promises to shed 'trouble' that brings the book: the weight, size sometimes ingrombrante (by giving it to participants at the G8 an art book with binding of marble weighing 24 kilos and not an ebook ? ), the inability to bring back all the books you want, even to bring us into a library to choose the book to give to our daughter. If then the child will not want to read it can always resort to the "Read to Me" and listen to the book through the side speakers. Over Kindle just can not do so for free from the books.