The Many Futures of the Book

Linton Weeks, NPR:

The premise of Lane Smith's new work for children, It’s a Book, is simple: Books are under siege.

On the first page a donkey asks a monkey, "What do you have there?" The monkey replies: "It’s a book."

"How do you scroll down?" the donkey asks. "Do you blog with it?"

Then he asks: "Where’s your mouse? ... Can you make characters fight? ... Can it text? ... Tweet? ... Wi-Fi? ... Can it do this? TOOT!"

No, the monkey repeatedly replies. "It’s a book."

Smith's book, in stores this month, may be an example of a dying breed. A book, published — and meant to be read — on paper.

People have been talking about "the death of the book" for more than a decade. But recent events suggest the end may be imminent for bound-paper books as we have known them for more than 500 years. Hardbound and paperback books may never totally disappear, but they could become scary scarce — like eight-track tapes, typewriters and wooden tennis rackets. ...

Dan Visel, a founder of the appropriately named Institute for the Future of the Book, points out that, first of all, a "book" can mean many things ...It would be a mistake to think that these various forms have a single, unified future,' Visel says. "Rather, I think it's more appropriate to say that there are futures of the book." ...