Jason Mittell outlines why in this day and age he might want to publish his newest work as a book (instead of a digital monograph). Many of us bibliophiles don't really examine why books are so awesome because it seems undoubtedly obvious, so it's nice to have Mittell outline some concrete non-Hayekian reasons here. Most of the reasons have to do with the incentives that exist within his particular marketplace (academia). But some of them ring true outside academia. Particularly this one:
Books are more permanent and long-lasting than digital forms. This is probably my biggest concern. I have a shelf full of amazing Voyager CD-ROM titles from the early 1990s that I’d love to look at again, but they haven’t worked on contemporary computers for years. The presses I’ve talked to see this question of long-term access and sustainability for digital titles as a huge question mark, but just because there’s not an answer yet doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try formats and then hope to port them as systems change. Waiting for the perfect solution to future problems leads to paralysis.
Good stuff. You can read more of it here. He also links to this blog post about the differences between book writing and blog writing as part of a broader conversation on the future (or lack thereof) of film criticism.
Lots of food for thought. Enjoy!
disappointing!
Posted by: abhinaya | July 08, 2012 at 04:04 AM