Books are one of the few areas where the analogue technology still reigns over the marketplace; what can that reveal to us about the state of digitalisation?
Now, of course, individuals that buy books from the likes of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones or the impact investor with a stake in World of Books might not be totally representative of the entire population, however that fact that the preference for physical books is a cross-generational event, with remarkably similar readership levels in between Gen-Z and Boomers. Books are something unique and special, and one loses that in an eReader-- the experience of holding a book in between your fingers, feeling its character, and seeing its gorgeous cover art, these are all lost to the monochromatic carbon-copies of the eReader. Digitalisation takes something out of the lived experience of being in this world and engaging with the physical things within it, and readers are choosing that vibrant 'physical truth' over digital convenience.
Oh brave brand-new world; everything is changing, and not constantly for the better. The relentless infringement of innovation into our everyday lives was only intensified by the pandemic, requiring that we book ahead to go to complimentary museums, and further stymying individual spontaneity. Perhaps you're down for digitalisation, trading in a watch of gears and elegant hands for something that can monitor your heartrate and display your texts, or are incredibly enthused to be able to immerse yourself in the three-dimensional metaverse and building a new life there with digital clothing, digital relationships, and digital experiences. Nevertheless, there's a huge swathe of the population that, against all expectations, have stood unfaltering in the course of the technological revolution and chosen something older-- booklovers. Certainly much to the consternation of the asset manager with a stake in Amazon books, the killing blow to print that was promised by the invention of the eReader, never materialised, with print editions still outselling online books by a factor of 10. This is a fantastic win for analogue innovation all over, however likewise reveals to us something crucial about how far our tastes for technological assimilation are willing to go.
As we move further into the increasingly technological twenty-first century, a new host of innovations, like the metaverse, will further integrate totally immersive technological experiences into our daily lives. Nevertheless, will everybody accept them with the fervour that we have greeted the web? It will be interesting to see what parts of the physical, lived reality we want to lose and just how much will be viewed as unneeded disconnection from the world around us. Would you want to work all day in a 3D digital office from your desk at home? Or would you embrace what classic books represent over eBooks? It's all going to come down to personal preference, but we can see innovation's vice-like grip starting to slip.