Once something is written, it travels through the world with the help of internet and many publication firms to various people, libraries, and bookstores. With the exposure of the amount of information on the internet, people can now easily decide sitting at home which version of the book is better and which one is not. They are able to write reviews to help others make purchases.
Google wants to digitalize all the books. It’s a good idea, because this will provide books for everyone to access… knowledge at hand for people deprived due to resources, and last but not the least, spread education and knowledge around the world to broaden people’s horizon of thinking. However, my only objection to this is that though education is being provided to everyone (which is good) it will end up being taken for granted by many. This will make education not completely absorbed, instead, people will begin taking short-cuts, and they already have started – for example: Sparknotes, Wikipedia, etc.
On the other hand, this issue also affects the Copyright firms. Since the copyright is there for a limited amount of time, the digitalized books will allow people to make changes to original texts and make additions and subtractions accordingly. This will over a period of time, erase the originality of the text and take away the trust that people have on many authentic and trustworthy research sites. So though the written word won’t die… it will change, slowly and gradually, taking away our culture, our heritage, our past, and our history.
Yes, I am not denying that the digital world is bring ease to our daily routine, and helping us out in so many countless ways… however, it is affecting us, our way of communication and our way of understanding things. For example: the world of texting and online chatting has introduced us to a new language which is now become a part of us and many students end up using it in their essays. In our society, it is okay to say Lol or Rofl with in conversations now.
The machine is taking over us, whether we believe it or not. We, humans, just need to realize what we are losing for the sake of all the blessings this machine brings to us.
In most respects, I agree with you. But actually, I think that the digitization of books, in particular, doesn’t necessarily correlate to easier access for all. Anyone who has proof of address can get a library card. Anyone can go into a library, and spend all day there reading a book if he or she so chooses. It doesn’t matter if you’re homeless or a millionaire, you can walk into a library, pick up a physical copy of a book, and read it if you are able to read. However, being able to access a digital copy requires access to a computer, and not everyone has one. Yes, I realize that all public libraries also have computers, but those generally come with a time limit. The only time limit on perusing library shelves is the library’s business hours. While it seems an obvious truism to state that digitization brings ease of access for all, it is in fact rather elitist in that only those who can afford the technology are actually able to access it.
I think you bring up some interesting points, especially about how the written word will change slowly over time if all books are digitalized. While I agree with you that our language will change (as language has always changed over time), I wonder if if will take away “our culture, our heritage, our past, and our history,” as you suggest. Perhaps having a record of this change will be useful in the preservation efforts of our culture, whatever that may be. Historians seem to relish written artifacts from the past, as they provide clues as to the nature of their cultures at each specific point in time. Having a digitalized record of these many instances might be looked upon in the same way by future historians.
I’m interested in the notion of changing books once their copyright lapses. In purely practical terms, how will these changes take place? Need they involve the destruction of the older text? We might refer to current debate over George Lucas’ fiddling with Star Wars with the hope that previous releases of the film will eventually be lost or forgotten.