Google Ebooks won’t make people read more. Shut up. You know it’s true
Trust me, Google won't make you hate it any less.
Actually, I do read a lot. I’m making myself finish The Prestige this week (It is really good), and I finished The Winter of Our Discontent two weeks ago (It is really, really good). I also teach a lit class part time (My students hate the deep insides of my guts). So, when I hear about technology making reading “fun again”, I don’t have the super, happy reaction you would think. I’ll explain in a minute. First, Google is dipping its toes into the eBook market, because Google has many toes, and it is also a pervert. From the New York Times:
Google’s move is likely to be welcomed by publishers who have expressed concerns about Amazon’s aggressive pricing strategy for e-books. Amazon offers Kindle editions of most new best sellers for $9.99, far less than the typical $26 at which publishers sell new hardcovers. In early discussions, Google has said it will allow publishers to set consumer prices. “Clearly, any major company coming into the e-book space, providing that we are happy with the pricing structure, the selling price and the security of the technology, will be a welcome addition,” said David Young, chief executive of Hachette Book Group, which publishes blockbuster authors like James Patterson, Stephenie Meyer and Nicholas Sparks.
I’ve discussed this before, but making books electronic isn’t going to make people read more. It just won’t. There are millions of books in the world. All you have to do is go to a library or a book store and go get them. You can even get books mailed to you online. You can get these books for less then five books, and that includes shipping. Having books put into a PDF file and pumped into a handheld won’t make you smarter. It won’t make you any more inclined to read Atlas Shrugged. Technology won’t save us, no matter how many times we say the contrary. A Google e-Reader thingy won’t make you any more literate. You’ll download a few books, get three pages deep, realize that you hate reading, and then you’ll toss the e-Reader thingy on the coach and flip until you get to House re-runs. Shut up. You know I’m right.
