In Tim Carmody’s article 10 Reading Revolutions Before E-books he describes exactly what the title eludes to, that is, reading and writing revolutions through time. The most important revolution in regards to our topic ‘E-books’ is number five where he writes: “The shift from scroll to codex was in turn enabled by a shift from papyrus to parchment and then paper, but honestly, the continual changes in materials essential to writing and reading alone could constitute a few dozen revolutions, at different places and times all over the world. Let’s just say that what the things we read are made out of has always been very, very important.” Very, very important, indeed. The e-reader has relatively recently hit the world by storm. As society becomes more and more digitally inclined, classic learning instruments such as paper books are being replaced. Subjects such as math and science have been incorporating computerized games and study tools for a while, and now apparently, so are English classes with e-readers.
Not just in English class though, Audrey Watters in her article Apple and the Digital Textbook Counter-Revolution writes: “…we now know about Apple’s plans to “transform the textbook industry” and that “even without the company’s co-founder around today to deliver the news, it appears that the hype lives on.” She goes on to explain that because more and more textbooks are being offered online, in-class paper textbooks will become more irrelevant. What will this mean for the students? Well, it will be easier for students to share books online rather than each buy one separately. I know that one of my friends already purchased a book online last semester, and she shared her username and password with multiple other people who then had access to that textbook for free. This change to save money is great for students, but will it bring down the chunk of the economy relying on book (or online book) sales? My thoughts are: probably. Watters informs that: “The textbook piece of that industry is a $10 billion per year market in the US alone.” Now that sounds like a significant chunk.
