Week 6: What's in a Page?

This course has been very different from what I had originally expected and has caused me to think about books in an entirely different way. Previous to the start of this class, I will admit, I considered books in an almost singular way - the story or content itself is what I conceptualized as 'the book'. I guess that's why I never had such strong opinions against e-books: I don't particularly care what format the book is presented so long as the work itself was readable and wouldn't hurt too badly when I drop it on my face while trying to read laying down. 

But as the course, and specifically the blogging questions, ask us to pull apart the parts of the book and think about them within different contexts, I have started to appreciate the complex nature regarding the idea of 'the future of the book'. 

I own several devices that have the capability to read e-books. Out of all of my platforms to read e-books, the one I use with the most frequency is my Kindle. It's my oldest device, a gift from my sister, and I definitely know how to use it more than any of my other devices.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
E-book on Kindle device.

When considering this blogging question, I immediately thought about my Kindle device. I have an older generation Kindle so it's all operated using buttons rather than touch screen. Clicking on the forward or backward buttons on either side of the Kindle 'flips' the page. But it doesn't actually flip the page. It darkens the screen and opens up what would be considered the next 'page'. To me, this is interesting, especially even the phrasing I chose to describe the action. It doesn't make any declarations that it is a page itself, doesn't flip or act like a printed book, but that is how the user considers what is in front of them. There are no page numbers, and no design to make it look like a printed page. Even while reading e-books, I don't think about clicking the button as changing the page. But for some reason, that is how I chose to describe it here, even though I'm not actually flipping anything.

I have my desktop application synced with my Kindle device, so when I stop at a certain point on my Kindle, then open the book in the application, it will match where I stopped. But transferring the e-book from the Kindle to the Kindle application can be problematic, especially when thinking about the page. Because the difference in sizes, age of the application and device, and the viewing options available for both, what is presented on a page on the device is different from the text viewable on the application. Further, the application provides a 'location' for the reader within the book at the bottom. I thought these were like page numbers. But when I was clicking through I quickly noticed that the page numbers do not increase one at a time, but seven. This was very, very confusing. Is this an error on the application? Was it made during the creation of the e-book? But perhaps it is an interesting example of what can go wrong when considering digital pages of a book.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol.
E-book on Kindle Application on PC.
Location indicated at the bottom of the page.

But what does it all mean, Basil?

Considering printed pages, digital pages, and the many great examples given by other blogging group members, I have come to question why we are trying to maintain and preserve the page. Maybe this will be an unpopular opinion, but I'm not sure I see the merit in trying to preserve what we have traditionally conceptualized as the page. Understanding the historical, theoretical, and traditional position of the page is important for book history and bibliographers; however I think that the future of the book, and the development of e-books, demands a new way of understanding what we think is needed or necessary to fulfill out definition of 'book'. Should the idea of the 'page' make way for interface? Or should we keep the language frequently associated with the book to help conceptualize what we see?

I'm not sure. Hopefully the final few weeks of this course will help to clarify these questions.