Watch people at a coffee shop and you don’t see them reading from papyrus scrolls. You have to wonder if books, real books with paper, are going into the dust bin of history.
“20% of 1-year-olds own a tablet computer. 28% of 2-year-olds can navigate a mobile device with no help. 28% of parents said they use a mobile device to put their children to sleep” (USA Today, November 2; 3A). I add that when the grandkids come, Opa and Oma sometimes let the iPads do the babysitting for us.
Strategic planning is part of life at Concordia Seminary. Should we plan on converting our library (270,000 volumes, the 2nd largest Lutheran theological library on the continent) into a museum?
“While analysts once predicted that e-books would overtake print by 2015, digital sales have instead slowed sharply. Now, there are signs that some e-book adopters are returning to print, or becoming hybrid readers, who juggle devices and paper. E-book sales fell by 10% in the first five months of this year” (New York Times, September 23; A1). I was shocked when I read that, but also comforted. Opa’s old ways aren’t going away but even Opa is adapting. Right now I’m reading two books, one on my iPad and the other a “real” book.
“‘People talked about the demise of physical books as if it was only a matter of time, but even 50 to 100 years from now, print will be a big chunk of our business.’ said Markus Dohle, the chief executive of Penguin Random House” (NYT, A3).
St. Paul wrote to Timothy, “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments” (2 Timothy 4:13). I guess he already had his tablet.
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