2009寶光紹興電子報

The Age of the Book

Sometimes I wonder if we are now entering of the end of the Age of the Book. Since the invention of the mechanical printing press around 1440, books have been the most important medium for the widespread distribution of knowledge and ideas.

But has the book had its day? Will it be made obsolete by the Internet and by electronic devices like the Kindle? (link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle) Or will our love affair with the feel and smell of a freshly printed "real" book continue? It is said that the only thing that is constant - is change.

Photo & Text by Joey Cleary

實體書的世界末日到了嗎?

有時候我很懷疑我們是不是已經進入了實體書的世界末日,自從一千四百四十年前,人類發明了印刷術之後,書本扮演了人類文明演化和知識想法傳播最重要的媒介。

但是實體書會不會有一天走到盡頭呢? 它會不會完全被網路和電子書給取代呢?(Amazon最新產品-Kindle電子書), 然而我們對於"實體書"的熱愛包含那翻閱時的香味和接觸的真實感,是否能讓實體書延續它的生命? 我想這世界唯一能夠不變的事情---就是改變。

撰文 / 攝影：西班牙慧盈 Joey Cleary
翻譯：施源 郭怡均