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For the past 10 years, people have been questioning the future of the book- actually, even for longer than that.
Now though we can see tat books are trendier than ever – people are reading again, writing again and why? Internet.
So, how do you foresee the future of the book 50 years from now?
{ 83 comments… read them below or add one }
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Eu considero o livro feito de papel muito mais charmoso,folhear as páginas uma a uma,sentir elas entre meus dedos.Tenho o hábito de colocar um fio de cabelo nos livros que eu mais gosto,é como se uma parte de mim ficasse dentro do livro.Livros eletrônicos não poderão ser emprestados,já que os aparelhos são caros,não poderão ser dados ou vendidos.Claro que as futuras gerações que crescerem acostumadas com os livros eletrônicos vão achar normal.Mas para mim e para muitas outras pessoas só vai sobrar a nostalgia dos livros de papel.
I learned not to be concerned about the future, not to make questions about the future, about how things might be. I believe that all what is important for mankind will stay. That mankind gets the support from a Higher Intelligence for that what uplifts the mind of human beings. So, I think that it depends of what books contain, if books will be there in the future.
A timeless experience (for me) is that a book is an ever staying friend. Bringing wisdom, insight, feelings of peace. I read so many books that I don’t know anymore what might interest me now: so, I am going to write my own book. An idea, new, that is there now for just some days. A book about the beauty of my life. Though my life has been a difficult one. Or maybe I have to say: >becausebecause< of the difficulties.
I am grateful that they were there, the difficulties and the pain and the fear and the sadness. Looking back I see them different, they made me grow. Yes, because I want to write about it, it would be nice that books will be there in the future, also mine…. :)
personalmento no creo que los libros dejen de estar de moda nunca al menos nosotros los romànticos que cosa tan bella como un libro nuevo para leer para salir un momento de la realidad en que estamos sumergidos y mas cuando encontramos libros faciles de entender con maravilloso contenido capaz de transportarnos al mismo desierto cosa que nunca he pisado pero que sin embargo hasta he sentido el olor de la arena no nunca pasaran de moda un abrazo paulo y sigue escribiendo que tus lectores siempre estaran avidos de conocer tus nuevos libros
It is the stimulation of the mind, heart, soul, imagination and intellect that is important. The physical medium through which our six senses are stimulated is of lesser importance. A beautiful physical book appeals to more senses, but its beauty can be tarnished if we become miserable because we cannot afford to buy it.
Paper books will definately still be around in the next 20 years or so, but will likely be less than 10% of book sales. Some major changes that will take place due to the huge rise in digital readership:
I think that this would cause a drastic change in what libraries will offer to the public.
The price of the “classic” form of books will be triple the price of a digital copy because it will be a luxury and more of a collectible in a sense to own a physical book.
Since it will become very easy to self publish the industry will also change since there will be more writers. What will this change? Will the cost of getting a book reviewed prior to being available for sale on Amazon.com and other potential big players of e-book retailers? With more books will it cost more to advertise books?
is there another link to this video? want to watch it again…
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I agree with majority of people here that modern times change the form of book ( e-books became more popular from year to year) but I am thinking that classic book cannot be replaced in total by an digital edition.
It is not same to read Coelho’s print and digital books.
For many people it is unique feeling take print book in hands with non-forbidden sense while they are on beach or in bed.
Electronic form of book cannot be so relaxing as it is classical book. The sense under the fingers is more subtle in classical forms.
It is same as we talk what is more natural: writing on comp or writing by pencil.
Paulo. Empece a leer tus libros por casualidad, primero El alquimista y ese me llevaron a los demas, quise saber el orden en el cual fueron escritos y segui buscando. Me falta uno curiosamente es uno de los primeros Las valkirias. Lei Maktub pero no tengo la seguridad del orden de los capitulos, no parece original,Y como tu biografia dise que esos libros tienen alterados algunas partes… van a salir mas ediciones de tus primeros libros?
im a young man with old mind,may bal this is what i belong to a land where deserts and riggy mountains rules the hearts, same as with the books, never got internet a replacement for books,even its right frm the beigning they start wrriting on a leather, but i cant as we ,
why, i knw frm the time i going to school having books, till graduation i have had books, not internet, same the taste i got frm books developed in me,
yea, a time may b give us a little faour to have electric books in school bags, and read their poems frm a screen not frm books, then they they able to leave them, just i never forget the warmth of my mother when she took me with herself, and i sleep
Ohh cant think of a better substitute to paperbook. Things that might change maybe the quality, texture, colour, weight of paper maybe…
Books made of paper will eventually disappear, just like the first books were written on animal skin are only museum exhibits now. Today wood and paper use is not the way forward, so maybe solar powered books for the future. However I live in Denmark and there is not much sun in the winter, will this mean I can´t read for 6 mths of the year!. Anyway, whatever form “the future book” takes, for now, I will not be reading a mammoth title on the computer as it is hard on the old eyes!
As our society progesses, it is with no doubt that other new forms of media surfaces due to our advancements. This is what they term “new media”.
Of such an example is the internet.
Materials and information is easily accessible through this new medium and quite effectively so too. And with relation, even books can be read online, through the internet.
Again, I feel that this is a case of pros and cons.
The reason for the adverse use of the internet mainly voices down to the flexiblity and the connectivity of this medium; more than half of the world's population is technology based.
But I personally feel that print media, or in this case, books, will be hard to replace. I'm sure many of us would rather hold a physical, conventional copy of a book then to read it online. Thus it would be hard to adapt and change.
Books are an awesome way to communicate ideas and convey stories and I don't see a medium that can successfully overtake its role in a long time to come.
Some things will change and develop but for me, a decent book in my hands will beat staring into the digital screen hands down.
Cheers,
Kenneth
i don’t think books will ever disappear.personally i find books to be a friend,a wonderful companion &of course a great source of knowledge & love.i don’t think the online books or ebooks can provide the kind of satisfaction & warmth that paperbooks do.when you are reading a book its like someone is with you as a friend,it makes you comfortable no matter wherever you are.a book engrosses you in a cosy world of itself.i cannot imagine the world without books.
love,
Dinu.
Happy birthday
I love this question. I love it because the book is not just a physical thing, but it is a magical device we have devised to share our souls. We have for years had fantasies and science fiction that speculates about what it would be like to be able to read people’s minds. Yet we have such a device here with us now, and have had for centuries. It is the book. It will never go away.
The internet is an exciting catalyst. I agree Mr. Coelho. And it also introduces us to new ways to express our thoughts, particularly in a non-linear way. Hyperlinks provide that new dimension to storeytelling. Additionally, Web 2.0 applications that provide menas for User Provided Content create opportunity for something more significant: Community Created Content. We may indeed create a truly new way to build a history of ‘tribes’ that are not all of the same village.
Still, returning to the traditional definition of book, I think there is something particularly unique about them that is unique, and will ultimately transcend new technological ways to express them.
A book in its usual form creates a tangible sense of reality that I find nowhere else. When I put down a novel part way through, even if it is a work written years ago, and read by thousnds before myself, it is as if the world is suspended and waiting for me to return. I think of those characters as waiting, currently in whatever state or dilema in which I left them. I truly believe that this immersive, almost transportive state that a book can impart is unique to its form.
It is the reason I believe the book will endure.
Thank you Mr. Coelho for your contribution to the nobility of your craft.
Yesssssss Paulo… the book is on the table!!!
horas atrás mediei uma mesa com Fernando Morais e ele disse que era seu aniversário…pois então meus parabens ! onde quer que vc esteja planetária criatura. Gostei também da reportagem que meu querido amigo Ricardinho Franca Cruz fez com vc na Rolling Stone brazuca desse mês. A propósito ele me passou o seu recado e eu te respondo : também lhe quero bem e qualquer informação que vc tenha recebido nesses anos de que eu estaria chateado por conta de uma adaptação dos seus livros pra histórias em quadrinhos não procede. Nunca tive nada com isso . Nem sei de adaptações e nem participei de nenhuma conversa sobre isso. A única da qual participei há tantos anos foi aquela do Diario de um Mago para a Tv Manchete que você dizia gostar mas depois foi a Portugal pedir para o Doc dar uma olhada…águas passadas e o futuro lhe pertence! abraço
Ricardo Soares
Dear Sir Coelho,
Your book the Witch of Portobello gave me a lot of strenght while in my journey in India. I’m so happy your books came accros me. I like to give my smiling thank you to you. Thanks!
Meu querido,FELIZ ANIVERSÁRIO!!!!
Desejo muitas felicidades…beijinhos…
Sua fã e discípula,Lu.
happy birthday
Sua Luz é Eterna !
Beijos,
Feliz aniversário !
Tim-Tim !
Parabèns,
Mari Raphael.
50 years from now, I think, which is possible, books will not be printed on a paper. Books will be published in a more sophisticated and technological manner. We will have then different and more advanced (out of the world) gadgets that will make paper and ink useless. Its possible. Come to think of it, flying cars have already been secretly invented, robots who think like humans are in-progress and etc… And the sad part is what if a device that can give you knowledge without even studying is invented 50 years from now? I hope not, because no one will be patient then to share a part of his/her time to read a good novel.
Anyway, I am glad I became a fan of your books. I like your books because its peppered with moral lessons. Like children’s stories. I am always satisfied with what I pay after reading a book you wrote. How I wish I have the ability to write good novels. I have mad ideas but I am not really into writing. But I am considering it and I am already making plans to study writing. I wish to meet you soon. Aryt.
Dear Paulo,
I think you are right that the written ,but also the audio and visual expression will be strongly enhanced by internet, because somehow internet evokes people to express themselves in all sorts of ways. I must even admit that being a poor reader of the classical book I somehow by the frequent use of internet gradually became more and more fascinated by written literature and also by the audiovisual expressions /text on the internet. Due to the reading of the beautiful stuff that I found through the internet, I am seriously considering to go write myself, because I realise that by writing you can feel or enjoy “the river” even much stronger than by reading.
As far as the future of the book concerns I observe that gradually all forms of expression are merging more and more on the internet. On your own website we see the beautiful river combining a beautiful comforting text about life with beautiful slides , (that is something different than a text with some poor drawings (by someone like William Blake two centuries ago). On “you tube” you can see music and beautiful lyrics accompanied by beautiful visual productions made by different people so reassembling the original authors text to new expressions and new meanings. The most beautiful thing is that we can easily select the expressions to which we feel related to. The internet therefore creates a creative space that will be very close to our lives (like everybody has its own royal library including connected audio and visual art expressions but also the possibility to contribute without interference of nasty publishers etc). For the moment this also creates the desire to buy the physical book. Whether the physical book will survive I am doubting. Two days ago, during my daily train trip from the Hague to Amsterdam (both in the Netherlands), I encountered a very fragile looking blond English lady, her face was a little pale and her noose a little hooked, but she had very friendly blue eyes, I could not estimate her age , the eyes looked wise and therefore seemed to be aged but the rest of her face was seemingly much younger. In her hands she had some strange very thin black device which she held up like she was reading what was on one side, leaving the black surface to my view. After some time I could not fight my curiosity any longer and overcame my shy ness and decided to start a conversation by asking her , what she held in her hands. Than she explained in a very friendly way that it was an e- book and that she could carry hundreds of books this way, since she was a fanatic reader (perhaps even writer, I did not have time to ask) and travelled frequently , she saved a lot of space in her suitcase. She showed me the side she was looking at and I saw a very readable text like I am writing now on the screen. At the same time I read the card attached to her luggage, reading some name like ..” Holly ….. and than I am not sure L’is le …. “. Than it all fitted, she was a witch or I was dreaming, unfortunately I had to leave the train at that moment not finding out who or what she actually was. But you can imagine that my doubt about the eternity of the physical paper book was born.. but was very comforted by the idea that the e-book will have a glorious future!
Victor van Rij
Dear Paulo,
I am reading Brida right now and it is the most beautiful story I have ever read. You are a brilliant remarkable man. I posted a review on my website Gorgeous for God.
Thank you.
Love, lisa
Querido Paulo,
Yo siento y veo al libro “sobrevivir”, pues lo siento un tesoro mágico que nos transporta a un desarrollo y conexión interna muy importante. Ese momento a solas, con esas páginas, creando un momento siempre tan especial, creo que no se puede prescindir de ello.
Internet es una herramienta importante, pero hay cosas que son insustituibles, y la tecnología no puede reemplazarlo todo.
A real book will survive :) So please, Paulo, keep writing :)
Dearest Paulo..
Sorry, i know this is a bit off topic.. But happy birthday :) i wish you all of the best and many many happy returns. Have a wonderful day..
Love you alot..
Thank you for being..
Yajna
Look that… look this…
the stars still there, can you see?
all long we will try change the reflexionS?
language? no contact?
in the mirror every body can ready the same book, and never enter in the real history, the mirror will be there for long long time.
this is what I watch.
I do not every seeing books as in paper bound on one edge with text on the pages ever ending. Other forms as in digital may at some point be more popular. BUT I do not see that in my life.
As far as other digital media like TV or movies totally replacing word stories. I do not see that as ever. So long as ONE individual can sit down a write either on paper or on a computer. Stories through words will be there.
As too why Books are more popular today. There are more warm bodies on the planet thus the greater demand. Secondary in America our media is so controlled by big business. They have no clue as to what the public really wants. Secondary with so many people there are so many likes and dislikes. What is good for my neighbor may not be suitable for me
Besides I cheat. I listen to audio books while at work. I was able download one of your books from iTunes for free (The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream). I later purchased Brida, and The Witch of Portobello. and I will be purchasing the Devil and Miss Prymn.
Noppie
hi
My opinion is .Books was is and will be forever here for people who are interesting of reading .i think why is boom of books now markantly see ,because people are tired of tv with full of realty shows with full of human stupidity and simplicity .The future of books are huge I think it will be reborn in these days and in the future.World is full of materialistic and consum people who dont have time for each other .They dont speak to each other how they feel .And one day they must stop and make a time for self .They took a book and relax ,imagine .As we know book is the best friend of people who like culture ,art at all .(ps excuse my english )
It’s bliss to hear you speak. There’s magic and sensations in your words, written or spoken, doesn’t matter.
No matter how much these technology and virtual world expands, book will always be there and nothing will ever be able to replace them, their smell, their feel, the magic, the power of these written words………..well they can never be replaced. Time will come and go but books will always be there, however their form may undergo changes with the changes in the surrounding environments.
Posso com o meu humilde português participar do seu blog?
For me there is very simple reason why paper book should exist. I look at the computer screen a good part of the day every day and this is bad for my eyes. So in the evening I don’t want to look at the screen again – I want my paper book.
About reading books.
You said that more people than ever read books. But at this moment more people than ever exist. As a percentage there still could be less readers than ever. When reading a book each person creats it’s own movie, but still it’s easier to just look at the movie and not create one. I’m afraid that each generation has less imagination due to movies, computer games etc.
Love,
Kim
Books will not go, nothing beats going on a long journey and sitting on a train alone and looking up at other strangers travelling and looking at the book they are reading and by the end of your journey you are no longer strangers….thats what books have done for me and hope this never changes!
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