Ouch. That hurts. You'd think a big-time sci-fi author would be more open-minded when it comes to technology, but Ray Bradbury isn't a believer. While being interviewed at the publishing industry's recent BEA event, Bradbury went on to say, "E-books smell like burned fuel." You can read the full article here.
A couple of other interesting points were made in that article. First, the observation that your neighborhood bookstore might actually be a Barnes & Noble, not an independent. And while that's kind of sad but true, I have to give the big chains some credit. The new Borders that just opened a few miles from my house really has a small, independent feel to it. It's also only about a 20-minute bike ride from my house, so it's not like we're talking about some far-away mall store.
Second, and more amusingly, I love what former Eagles guitarist and new Wiley author Don Felder had to say about our industry: "Publishing people seem very upfront, very decent and very honest," he told the AP, adding with a laugh, "I don't think they'd last long in the music business." I interpret that as a wonderful complement aimed at several of my colleagues here at Wiley, the folks who published his book, Heaven and Hell.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Ray Bradbury: "There is no future for e-books"
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2 comments:
I find it ironic that Ray Bradbury, of all people, should be complaining about ebooks. It's been years since I read Fahrenheit 451 but isn't that story about people trying to save books and keep them from being burned? If folks had Kindles, they could have divvied up the libraries and saved everything and then easily hidden them. Oh well, I guess time has stifled his imagination.
Did I never tell you my Ray Bradbury encounter story? It's a good one. Great stuff, actually. Gives me blog fodder for the week. Suffice it to say, it was my "when a hero takes a fall" moment.
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