The End of Books

In the New York Times, a really nice examination of the history of the death of the book. There's even a little bit at the end of the article about how libraries also haven't ended as prophisied. Although the "death of the book" has been vastly over-reported, there has been a lot of prescience in past writing. From the article. One 19th-century inventor gave the names of “whispering-machine” and “metal automatic book” to something that sounds like a cross between the audiobook and the Walkman. Users “would place the machine in the hat, and have the sounds conveyed to the ear by wires.” Besides curing eyestrain, these “reading machines” would “permit of the pursuit simultaneously of physical and of mental improvement.” Instead of hunching over desks, intellectuals would be free to jog and with both hands free, their wives could read while washing the dishes: “the problem of the higher education of woman would be triumphantly solved.”