Future of Books

In his article “Read the latest iPad?” (KT, Wednesday, April 7, 2010), Marc Aronson has asked a question; “Does the arrival of this new gizmo mean the end of books as we know it?” My answer is “No, Never.”

Besides the issues sighted by Marc, e-books suffer from many other disadvantages. To start with, you need a gadget that runs on power. What if it runs out of power or simply breaks-down just when you are deeply engrossed in reading? Small screen size will put further constraint on the already failing eye-sights of aged readers. What about those readers who are not skilled at operating electronic gadgets? How long can you keep these e-books readable at the current rate of obsolescence in technology, unless, of course, you keep changing the gadget? E-book format itself may go through a revolutionary change in a not so distant future.

Then, there are other socio-psychological constraints with e-books. Can you read e-books at all locations, all weathers and all circumstances? How will you derive the pleasure of lending or borrowing an e-book? How are you going to highlight, underline important paras or make notes in the margin space of the e-book? How will you obtain author’s autograph or gift the e-book with your own hand-written message that may survive many generations with nostalgic memories? How would you put attractive covers on an e-book? How can a visitor to your house get impressed with your collection of e-books? Would it still be possible to make new acquaintances by picking an e-book that was accidently dropped by someone on the pathway? And, last but not the least, can you preserve a flower between the pages of an e-book rekindling sweet memories of the past?

Luck Factor

Recently, I stumbled upon the research findings of a psychologist on ‘why some people are always in the right place at the right time, while others consistently experience ill fortune.’ He conducted a simple experiment. He gave same number of both lucky and unlucky people copies of the same newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell him how many photographs were inside. He had secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper saying, “Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250.” This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.

He concluded that unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and this anxiety disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected. As a result, they miss opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job adverts and miss other types of jobs.

Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. His research finally revealed the elusive “Luck Factor” based on the following four steps:

1. Listen to your gut instincts – they are normally right.

2. Be open to new experiences breaking your normal routine.

3. Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well.

4. Visualize yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call.

Luck, indeed, is an intersection of opportunity and preparedness.