Do you think books will disappear one day ?

Do you think books will disappear one day ?

In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag and all the other firemen burn books to repress dissident ideas from being spread. It is probably a fiction, but it is based on historical facts: books usually "scare" dictators. Therefore, we can ask ourselves if books will disappear one day. First, we will explain why books will disappear at some point in history. Then, we will explain why it is very unlikely that books will completely disappear one day. 

        The main reason why the production of books could end gradually is the evolution of the technological progress. Nowadays, nearly everything could be transferred onto an electronic device: communication between people migrated from letters to e-mail or texts. Therefore, the literature world is also touched by this phenomenon: we have seen in the last decade the raise of electronic books available on tablets, phones or Kindle. Moreover, the younger generations are more connected than older people: some of them were born with a tablet between their hands, while older generations were born with books. We were not raised with books, or if we were, at some point in our childhood, our parents decided to change to a tablet: it is more cost-efficient on the long term and it is better for busy parents, because we can play on our own. Those generations are more interested in social media or movies – movies that can be inspired by a book, that none of them will read. Also, nowadays, reading is seen as an activity for elderly people, for people who are bored and have nothing to do.

Then, because books could be heavy, the schools are trying to reduce the weight of our school bags: some establishment are even removing all the books and giving tablets to students with all the materials needed inside. But this weight issue is not only school related: a lot of people would rather have a tablet with one hundred books even if the lighting of the tablet is bad for their eyes than carrying two 500 pages books in their luggage while going in holidays. The tablet or the phone have the advantage of being very light and easy to transport everywhere and in every bag. The deforestation is also a modern issue. To produce books in millions of copy has an environmental impact: some people who are ecologist activist would rather buy a tablet than a book. To finish with this side of the answer, we have seen that in the past, several dictatorships have seen books as a danger to their safety and they tried to burn them all down – as seen in the book Fahrenheit 451, which is a reflection of the Nazi policy towards books (and every tipe of them). To conclude, yes, books could disappear one day.  

        Certainly, books are disadvantages but is it a reason to let them disappear? Do we even want them to disappear?

        The technological progress made paper books out of date but why then millions of copies of books are sold every year? Bestsellers do not go onto a tablet, apparently, they go between your hands. Only that, could show that books will definitely not be erased of our societies. And the fact that books have an almost eternal life expectancy – some libraries own 500 years old books – when tablets and electronics do not, demonstrate the power of books: they will never completely disappear. Books are not only books that you read like that, for fun; they are a way of showing a heritage, an intellectual society. They are the reflection of what a society is: it is through a book that you can express the essence of a community. Books are part of a culture: you cannot make a part of a culture disappeared. It is suicidal. The education systems still predominantly works on paper books and also a religious person does not have his religious book on a tablet – even in holidays he will take it with him. The edition industry developed pocket-sized book of religious books. Then, some people are not interested in technology at all: elderly, religious people, some cultural factors make that you are not into technology. It could also be an aversion towards this evolution. Moreover, a lot of people, now feel, like their lives are slipping through their fingers, that technology is taking an enormous part of their lives: they want to disconnect from it to reconnect to what is really important. This also means taking their time and slowing this down. A book, for a lot of them, is an excellent way, to slow down, to have some me-time, or to even learn something new. Feeling the paper between your fingers makes you feel a bit in connection with nature. Moreover, in the same spirit of disconnection, parents – who have time to waste and money to spend – would rather give books to their children than a tablet. There are a lot of things that a tablet cannot teach you: the smell of things, the touch of things. Books can.