Ikea vs. Books
Ikea, the Swedish furniture empire built by the hex wrench, is redesigning their signature bookshelf. Apparently, people don't need to put their books on a shelf anymore, because people don't have books to shelve. From TechCrunch:
If you needed any more proof that the age of dead-tree books is over take a look at these alarming style changes at Ikea: the furniture manufacturer’s iconic BILLY bookcase – the bookcase that everyone put together when they got their first apartment and, inevitably, pounded the nails wrong into – is becoming deeper and more of a curio cabinet. Why? Because Ikea is noticing that customers no longer buy them for books.
Adds The Economist:
In the first five months of this year sales of consumer e-books in America overtook those from adult hardback books. Just a year earlier hardbacks had been worth more than three times as much as e-books, according to the Association of American Publishers. Amazon now sells more copies of e-books than paper books. The drift to digits will speed up as bookshops close. Borders, once a retail behemoth, is liquidating all of its American stores.
You don't need a lot of room for a Kindle or an iPad. On the other hand, you never walk into a room with shelves lined with trinkets and get the same feeling from a book-filled space.
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Comments :
Dec '10
Re: Ikea vs. Books
My books are boxed. Almost all of them. I have a shed 24 feet long and 12 feet long, that is mostly full of boxes of books.
I just won't read them, anymore. I'm 51 and can't read without cheaters, anymore, so I read online or read ebooks.
For pleasure, I can't even do that, anymore. I do more "reading" through audiobooks, now.
Why? Because every minute of every day is full. Unless you are a hermit, there is no other alone time and space, excpet for riding on a loud tractor, or driving between cities. My kids don't walk up to me, see me reading, then walk away. They see me still and say, "Whatchya doing?!" I would never have disturbed my father when he was reading, but chaining them to a tree and beating them does no good: if I'm not already listening to them tell me about every aspect of the cartoon they just watched on TV, then I am available.
You might think it would be more simple to just kill all of the children, but you would be wrong; I would still have to put on my glasses.
Jul '10
Re: Ikea vs. Books
Curious, why would You link to wikipedia's entry for Ikea instead of Ikea's Own Homepage?
I have My suspicions, but....
Feb '11
Re: Ikea vs. Books
The end of civilization is upon us.
Aug '11
Re: Ikea vs. Books
I can't accept the fact that books (or anything printed for that matter) will no longer exist soon. Like you, there is something about a library or a book store that feels welcoming and filled with promise. I still remember fondly the little library I visited as a child: the stamped library card, the smell of the books, the creaking of the floors and the quietness that allowed the reader to explore and find a treasure or two. I loved looking at the check-out card that told me who had read the book before me. I've not tried an eBook and won't soon. An eBook won't let me dog-ear the page (Sorry, Mrs. Moore), hide a secret letter, or write notes in the margins. Erasmus said, "When I get a little money, I buy books, if any is left, I buy food and clothes." 'nuff said.
Edited on Sep 10, 2011 at 4:58pmApr '11
Re: Ikea vs. Books
To ensure that my home will always smell of rich mahogany and leather-bound books I refuse to buy ebooks.
Seriously, though, I recall a recent anecdote that (disregard your feelings of him for a moment) of retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter. The man had to renovate his house solely because of the oppressive weight emanating from the volume of books contained in his second floor library. Not even Ikea could design a bookshelf for that.
Apr '11
Re: Ikea vs. Books
To ensure that my home will always smell of rich mahogany and leather-bound books I refuse to buy ebooks.
Seriously, though, I recall a recent anecdote that (disregard your feelings of him for a moment) of retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter. The man had to renovate his house solely because of the oppressive weight emanating from the volume of books contained in his second floor library. Not even Ikea could design a bookshelf for that.
Feb '11
Re: Ikea vs. Books
HeartofAmerica: Erasmus said, "When I get a little money, I buy books, if any is left, I buy food and clothes.".
Thanks for reminding me of the Erasmus quote. It brought a smile to an otherwise dreary subject.
Mar '11
Re: Ikea vs. Books
I haven't bought a reader yet...I don't want to be on the wrong end of a VCR/Betamax situation.
Besides which, I dread running out of batteries. Percival Without Book is at least as sad as NGO Without Someone To Nag.
Jul '10
Re: Ikea vs. Books
Without Libraries where will all the vagrants hang out?
Will Our public Libraries turn into lil' e-readers the size of phone booths (remember those?)?
Now, Homes no longer have Libraries, but Home theaters. Shame.
I can just imagine the next generation reminiscing about the smell of Their Kindle.
Oct '10
Re: Ikea vs. Books
First, may I note, and mourn, the passing of Michael S. Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, who did more than any single human in centuries to make our literary heritage accessible to anybody who wishes to learn from it?
Moment of silence—thank you—back into the fray.
I love printed books, but I have way too many of them already, thank you very much. If I want to smell them, or feel the texture of their pages, or delight in the subtle sound of turning a page, I can go to the library and pick out some random book and experience that. On the other hand, if I wish to read a timely book that's just been published, I can order a print edition, pay twice the cover price for shipping, then wait two weeks for it to be delivered (as I live in Europe) or choose the electronic edition and start reading it within a couple of minutes without any shipping fees and usually for less than the cost of the print edition.
What's not to like?
Once copyright on orphaned works is sorted out, the entire intellectual heritage of mankind will be downloadable on demand.
Feb '11
Re: Ikea vs. Books
What's not to like?
Once copyright on orphaned works is sorted out, the entire intellectual heritage of mankind will be downloadable on demand.
Until a really nasty solar flare fizzles the power grid and your batteries die. Then the entire intellectual heritage of mankind consists of irretrievable magnetic zeros and ones.
Apr '11
Re: Ikea vs. Books
Increasingly, this is the compromise I am making: I've had a Kindle for a year and a half, and most of my new book purchases have been on it. (I also have acquired a bunch of public domain books.) But I already had a large library of real books, including a fair number of old books with that great smell and feel. This makes me less apt to run to B&N or order from Amazon when a new book comes out. I'm looking to add only books worthy of my physical library. Used bookstores are another story. I always try to find one in any city I visit, and the town where I live (Tulsa) has a surprising number of really excellent used and rare book stores for a city its size. (And one great indie bookstore/newsstand that has the feel of an old drugstore soda fountain. In business since 1947 and outlived the two local Borders!)
Edited on Sep 10, 2011 at 7:19pmAug '10
Re: Ikea vs. Books
This is bad timing. I was heading to Ikea next week for bookcases, in an attempt to clear my last 3 boxes of books off the closet floor.
I've been buying reading e-books back when the easiest way to distribute them was on CDs in the backs of physical books, and my Kindle is always nearby. But there are some books that just don't read well electronically, and some books that still aren't available electronically.
Aug '11
Re: Ikea vs. Books
Snow Bird
What's not to like?
Once copyright on orphaned works is sorted out, the entire intellectual heritage of mankind will be downloadable on demand.
Until a really nasty solar flare fizzles the power grid and your batteries die. Then the entire intellectual heritage of mankind consists of irretrievable magnetic zeros and ones. · Sep 10 at 5:55pm
How true...Like I need another battery-operated/universal-corded communication-like device that probably requires a password and a case. My paperback dries out when it gets wet and the flight attendant will never tell me to turn it off and put it away. When the electricity goes off, the cable and internet die...my book and a candle will do the trick.
Edited on Sep 10, 2011 at 6:14pmFeb '11
Re: Ikea vs. Books
People tend to forget just how frail and ephemeral their precious little electronic devices are. Ask any IT person who has been tasked with recovering data from a device that management, for reasons of 'cost effectiveness' (ie the COO needed a raise), stopped funding support for fifteen years ago.
We can read a papyrus written 4,000 years ago. In 100 years your Kindle will be a door stop.
Jul '10
Re: Ikea vs. Books
I find it harder to get a memorable autograph through the Kindle approach.
Jul '10
Re: Ikea vs. Books
HeartofAmerica
How true...Like I need another battery-operated/universal-corded communication-like device that probably requires a password and a case. My paperback dries out when it gets wet and the flight attendant will never tell me to turn it off and put it away. When the electricity goes off, the cable and internet die...my book and a candle will do the trick. · Sep 10 at 6:12pm
Edited on Sep 10 at 06:14 pm
Bravo!
Re: Ikea vs. Books
Right now I'm listening to "America Alone" by Mark Steyn in audiobook form.
Take that, IKEA.
Nov '10
Re: Ikea vs. Books
Well hold on though...There was this interesting article last year in the LA Times Magazine (the first time I'd read the thing in, oh, over a decade) about this guy who has created a career for himself restoring and appraising people's personal libraries of art, photography, and collectible books. To wit:
Michael Tuttle, who has carved a niche as a personal-library preservationist—an archiver/cataloger/appraiser, if you will . . . thinks the high-tech devices are great for newspapers, magazines and beach reads, but when it comes to first-edition literature, art and photography books, nothing can replace the real thing . . .
Tuttle feels privileged to have access to both a range of amazing books and the people who collect them. Among his endeavors, he has created a library schematic for the arts, architecture and design books of restaurant impresario Peter Morton; worked with Policeman Andy Summer, who has amassed books on photography, the ’60s and the beginning of the English movement; categorized Brett Ratner’s assemblage of Hollywood publications past and present; and organized the library of Dede Gardner, who has been accumulating tomes on poetry and literature.
More here.
May '10
Re: Ikea vs. Books
I am straddling the divide. I just got home with $41 of books that I bought at 80% off at the Palo Alto Borders that is going out of business.
To the people complaining that electronic data is more ephemeral than paper, it's also much easier to duplicate and create a thousand offsite backups scattered around the world.