3 chapters combined review trial

'Print is Dead. Books in our digital age' by Jeff Gomez, even though a few years outdated, still answers relevant questions in todays print vs. screen dilemma. His book title is somewhat ironic as it is a published book discussing the death of books. The main argument discussed is that it does not matter which medium the content is presented on but simply the content. Even though he thought books did not hold a future, these past few years have proven him wrong as we still buy books and use books, even with improved Kindle's and iPads. E-books just simply gave us another platform to read on. Gomez also states with clarity that publishers should embrace the digital age as it will help them find talent and vice-versa. It will help expose them as publishers and indirectly tells them to see this advancing change as an opportunity to release their work in digital form as well, to satisfy both ends of the market. Gomez puts forward the idea that e-books somewhat 'failed' to be a bigger hit in the past years, reason being they stuck to the traditional ink on paper experience, so why pay more for a device when you can buy the traditional book for one tenth of the price? Reading should be considered an experience and not an expense, a pleasure we should nurture in our children and encourage from a young age. A point which struck me was the comparing of a book to a watch as it seems to be a unnecessary. A watch is still very popular today and just because there are new devices which tell us time, does not mean people are going to stop wearing them - same goes for books. He also talks about how interest in books is diminishing as a pass time due to online availabilities such as Youtube, blogs and now even Facebook. Just because some people lost interest doesn’t mean everyone else did and just like Brandon Keim mentions in his article, its all according to personal taste and habits.

Figure 1. book cover. Print is Dead. Books In our digital Age. Jeff Gomez

Gomez, J., 2009. Print is Dead: Book in Our Digital Age. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan