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Electronic Text Essay

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Electronic Text

Many people will argue that history began with the advent of the written word. Before books, history was passed by word of mouth and was often lost or altered as it went from generation to generation down through the years. For many years now our civilization has enjoyed books, journals, newspapers, magazines, and many other types of writing. We use these literary tools to record our lives, to invent stories from the imagination so powerful that they make writers into millionaires, and to make news available to the general public. Today, in our technological age, a new form of literary expression is taking place. With the invention of the internet and the trend towards more of the population using it as a
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Although I personally love the smell of a new book, I agree that there must be a better way to publish these books. Perhaps electronic text is that way. Rogers certainly believes so. “The Internet presents all the elements needed for a true reinvention and renaissance of book publishing” (Rogers). If books were distributed on the web, paper would not be wasted, and publishers would not be taking a risk because the copies not sold would never have actually been printed – they simply would never have been downloaded. I believe that the future of e-books is an exciting area to explore.

There are others who see e-books as more threatening than exciting. They believe that e-books will one day snuff out current book publishing and that all books will have to be read off of a computer. It is not only books that those offended by electronic text are worried about. They are worried about newspapers and periodicals as well. Nicholas Baker is one of those offended. He writes in his book Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper about an event he heard of back in 1999. The British library sold off most of their newspapers in a blind auction (Baker). These newspapers were not in bad condition as the libraries claimed; they were perfectly preserved. “Many librarians, however, have managed to convince themselves, and us, that if a newspaper was printed after 1870 or so, it will inevitably
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