What the Future Holds for Print Books in the World of Digital Technology

Digital books are gaining immensely in popularity—some people even think eventually print books will become obsolete. While I do see e-books continuing to gain in popularity, I do not see print books becoming obsolete—at least not any time in the foreseeable future. After all, we still have reference books not to count the ancient works that remain on library shelves. Of course, there are also those like myself and many other readers who still prefer the look and feel of print books.

Statistically Speaking

According to the American Association of Publishers sales of books in all platforms increased 2.4 percent in December 2010 compared to December 2009 and 3.6 percent for the entire year. E-books saw growth of 164.4 percent over 2009 figure, a healthy increase and good portion of the market. Of course, it is unrealistic to provide figures for e-books without including other formats as well. Some of the other figures the AAP compiled for December 2010 include the following:

· Downloads of audio books increased 56.7 percent or 38.8 percent for all of 2010 over 2009 figures

· Purchases of physical audio books such (CDs and tapes) increased 34.5 percent but declined 6.3 percent for all of 2010 compared to 2009.

· Children's and Young Adult paperbacks declined 5.7 percent while the hardcover versions declined 9.5 percent over 2009 totals.

· In the adult category hardbacks decreased by 5.1 percent, paperbacks decreased 2.0 percent and mass market versions decreased 6.3 percent from 2009 figures.

Does this mean we are inching toward a reversal to e-books? The figures don't seem to support that transformation at this time. While there is definitely a decrease in paperback and hardcover print books, there is an increase in audio books. This could mean there is an increase in the overall digital market and not just e-books. For instance, people can listen to audio books while they are driving but they cannot read an e-book or a print book when driving.

Looking to the Future

While e-books will definitely increase in popularity especially with younger readers who are more likely to embrace this new technology, print books will be available—at least in the foreseeable future—for those who prefer holding a book in their hand. There certainly are advantages to e-book technology, especially for those who do a lot of reading while they commute or travel. Having the ability to carry along many of your favorite books in a lightweight e-reader is definitely an advantage. Even those who prefer print books indulge in the pleasure of e-books while they travel or commute.

Compatibility Issues

One of the problems that currently plague the e-book industry, especially when it comes to e-readers is compatibility. Writers that wish to make their work available to all potential readers must plan to make it available in several formats. I often hear writers say, "I just published my latest book on Kindle." Keep in mind Kindle is not the only e-reader available; there are many others including Nook, Sony and many more. If e-books are to survive the future there must be a way to make them more compatible with one another. Kindle, for instance, requires an add-on in order to allow users to read work in e-pub format (the format frequently used by online libraries). Other readers complain they have problems with the PDF format on their Kindles.

The technologic advances that have moved from simply reading e-books on a PC in PDF format to reading on a portable device that will fit in your purse are still fairly new. There is no doubt the technology is here to stay, but many—myself included—hope we will always have a choice between an e-book and a print book. It would be sad to have to take all those wonderful books that authors penned centuries ago and put them into the archives because readers are no longer interested in the work of past centuries.

-Brenda Coxe

Freelance Writer

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Movie Monday - Kung Fu Panda 2

As a sequel, this movie was really good! I don't think that it would be as entertaining without seeing the first movie because this one takes off where that one ended. So that being said, if you haven't seen the first one then this review probably won't make much sense.

Anywho...SPOILERS!!!

It was great to see that Po hadn't really changed from the first go round, at least all that much. He still craves food with an addiction that makes me sick. The first time we see him he's stuffing 40 steamy buns into his mouth!

The Furious Five have settled in and accepted him as a member of the team, even incorporating some fancy moves (from Crane) to help him along. Po, remember, can't run all that fast...or that far.

The action comes into play from the villian, Lord Chen (voiced by Gary Oldman), who "invents" cannons. He sees cannons as a way of taking control of China. He orders his wolf soldiers to gather up as much metal as possible, which bring the Furious Five and Po to defend the poor minstrals of a small town. It is here that Po sees a brand on the lead Wolf's armour that gives him a vision of a baby panda.

Shaken, confused, Po goes to his father, Mr. Ping, and asks where he has come from. Mr. Ping reluctanly tells the story of how a young baby Po came to him the week's vegetable delivery. Po comes to the conclusion that he was thrown away in the trash. Disheartened, he goes to Master Shifu for a Kung Fu lesson. The lesson is about finding inner peace, which has taken Master Shifu 50 years to find.

And then Lord Shen's plans are found out and the Furious Five plus Po go to defeat the cannons. There are many battles, lots of action, but underneath all of this is the story of how Po comes to find inner peace by making peace with his past.

The parts I really enjoyed were the flashbacks of his mother trying to save Po from the Wolf soldiers, hiding him with vegetables while she leads the pack away and, we assume, to die. As a mother, that really hit home with me. The artists did a wonderful job high-lighting the emotion of a mother leaving her child.

There was definitely a Greek tragedy feel to the story, since Lord Shen went about destroying all Pandas when a soothsayer fortold his demise by a warrior of black and white. Yes, the movie did borrow from a lot of different sources, but it came together nicely. I think one of the things that caught my attention was the great soundtrack.

I highly recommend seeing this movie in 3D. It really made the story all that more interesting, more alive. My son, who is 4 & 1/2 sat through the whole thing with his glasses on, glued to the big screen. He concluded the glasses made it into a Pop-Up movie.

Movie Monday - Zach and Miri Make a Porno

I have to confess, I am becoming a huge fan of Seth Rogan.

When he first hit the scene, I wasn't too much into him, mainly because his movies weren't my cup of tea. But then he did the voice on Kung Fu Panda, and then the Green Hornet, and now I'm starting to get him.

I became aware of this movie, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno", when I read it had to do something with Star Wars. I really didn't expect much from this film, but I must say, I was surprisingly entertained!


Okay, let's start from the beginning. Zach and Miri have been friends since the second grade. They live outside of Pittsburg, struggling to make ends meet. When their electricity, water, and heat all get turned off in December, Zach comes up with this brilliant idea to make a porno! They enlist a friend as a producer (meaning they take his money) and promise him to see "titties" during auditions.

Okay, though the movie also stars legendary porn star Traci Lords, who plays a girl named Bubbles, the only real nudity we see is breasts, a fake shot of a scrotum, and the full monty at the end. There is the F-bomb a-plenty, and crude humor, but overall this is a hilarious movie!

Everything that could go wrong while making a porno, does. Including Zach and Miri falling in love. Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks have one of the most beautiful, erotic moments I've ever seen in a non-erotic film, while showing absolutely nothing!

Written and directed by Kevin Smith, this is one movie that is definitely worth chuckling over (when the kids aren't home)!

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Movie Monday - Beastly

This is perhaps one of the rare times that I've seen a movie based on a book where I haven't read the book. What drew me to this film was the retelling of one of my favorite fables, being a pure romanticist at heart, set in the modern day world of New York.

We begin with Kyle (Alex Pettyfer), a pretty boy elitist at a distinguished school, who knows he is good looking and uses that as his platform to run for President of the Green Society. He openly admits that he cares nothing for the environment and wants the title simply because it'll look good on his school resume.

Kyle bashes on the "uglies" of society, even going so far as to equate them as the undesirables of the world. He makes it known that he believes that only the good looking people should be successful in life and when he goes home to his tv reporter dad, we understand how he got these ideas.

But Kyle makes a mistake, he plays a joke on the wrong "ugly", a gothic witch named Kendra, played by Mary Kate Olsen. I was happy to see Mary Kate play this unforgiving character, because Kendra places a curse on Kyle, making him as hideous on the outside as he is on the inside. Kyle has one year to find someone to say the words "I love you" to him.

Kyle's father moves him into a house in the far suburbs of NYC, with a Jamaican housekeeper who hasn't seen her 3 kinds in five years, and a blind teacher. And slowly, Kyle's father pushes his son out of his mind and out of his life.

Kyle develops a fixation upon one of his fellow schoolmates, Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) and starts, well, almost stalking her. He follows her, watching her. Her father gets into trouble with a drug gang, going so far as to shoot and kill one member. Kyle convices Lindy's father to let her move into his house where he can protect her.

Lindy reluctantly does under the belief that she is going to a distant friend of her father. Kyle calls himself "Hunter" to hide his identity and over time the two become friends. Kyle learns what Lindy likes in order to win her affections, namely JuJu Beads and a Greenhouse on the roof. The two fall in love and when Lindy gets the call that her dad OD'd, Kyle lets her go to tend to him.

This is pretty much the standard story of Beauty and the Beast, and up until this point the film was engaging, well acted and nicely directed. However, the story falls apart completely at the end, abruptly ending as if the writer realized that they only had about ten more minutes to sum everything up. Lindy's father is never seen again, his OD is resolved with a "he's doing okay" speech, and the drug gang who vowed to find Lindy and kill her for his brother's death was never an issue at all! The whole MacGuffin that drove the story fell apart.

We get the "I love you", of course, and Kyle turns back into his beautiful self, but we're left wondering if he learned anything at all. There was no "Oh my God!" revelation to support why Lindy loves him, nor do we believe that he had just cause to turn back into handsomeness. I'll watch it again, because I do love both Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens, but I would recommend Netflixing this one, or waiting till HBO.

Spirals Review!

From Blackraven's Reviews...one of my best reviews ever!

"Wow! I’m still feeling the thrill from reading this book. At first I was put off by the first person, present tense, but it couldn’t have been more perfect. I even love the coverart!

Kaori is a character that became larger than life and I won’t soon forget her. For six years she survives alone in the aftermath of what once was Los Angeles. She learns to survive on her own and begins to appreciate all the little things in her solitary life.

Everything changes when Tobias and Orion find her hiding out at one of her safe houses. She doesn’t trust them at first. Trust did not help her survive for so long. But her physical attraction to both men can’t be denied and they soon infiltrate her emotional barriers.

Okay…where do I even start? Every once and awhile you pick up a book that restores your faith in fiction for entertainment…this is one of those books! From the first chapter, Ms. Carter captivated me with her unique writing voice. I savored every sentence and couldn’t stop reading until I finished the book.

There are twists and turns, action and suspence, that had my heart racing. The plot was brilliant and I still can’t believe this came for a writer’s imagination. The sex scenes were scorching hot! The blend of narration, emotion, humor and dialogue were all done to perfection.

I must have more from this author because Spirals has made me a huge fan of Beth D. Carter. This book took me on a beautiful trip that stimulated all my senses. The ménage element was done perfectly, tastefully and touched my heart. I’m giving this one my highest rating and recommending everyone who enjoys good fiction with an erotic flare to run and buy Spirals."

-Rated 5 Delightful Divas and a Recommended Read by Stacey!
You can read the whole review here:
http://www.blackravensreviews.com/?p=3703

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