Book Geeks: on the intersection of literature and technology

I admit it, I'm a bookgeek.  There's no nice way to put it.  I like reading more than almost any other activity (Eating comes a close second.  Reading while eating is heaven, especially if it's a handful of crunchy raw almonds...).  I'm also a techie.  Not a clever technie mind you, just someone who likes to mess about though I am a Certified Lotus Programmer (CLP to those in the know) if anyone wants credentials.  Until now I've had to keep my technie side and my literary sides distinct, but a new article on Digital Book World has convinced me to bring the geek out of the closet.  The article, written by Anne Kostick, states in no uncertain terms that the authors of the future will need to be technologically minded, coming out of their garrisons to collaborate with programmers and designers.  I've always maintained that my programming day job is all semantics - no 1s and 0s for me.  It's about translating the inchoate into the concrete - turning fuzzy desire into a working package.  That's reasonably literary, at least the way I look at it. 

Writing for me today, is such a different process from what it was back some 30 years ago when I first started writing poetry seriously.  I only use my pen to sign things.  I research almost simultaneously while I'm writing, looking for inspiration, images, meanings or chasing threads to pull into my work. You won't catch me talking or writing in binary - I'm just not good at that.  It's still all about semantics for me, whatever I do - whether on a page or on a screen. But I'm surely glad someone is able to manage the back end coding.  And I take Kostick's well made point that the notion of a 'digital work' is continuing to morph.  The immersive experience isn't, and won't, but how to get a reader there might well continue to change.  The geek in me is excited.

Coffee with that Expresso Book?

It isn't exactly dinky, but there's something a little evocative (and scary - new technology is always scary) about being able to walk into a bookshop or library, and print out any book in print in a few seconds and watch it construct in front of you.  The latest version of Espresso Book Machine® 2.0 is just 3.8 feet wide by 2.7 feet deep by 4.5 feet high (that's even shorter than I am).  You can watch a video of a book being made at The Expresso Book Machine Channel. It's pretty cool and looks a little like a big photocopier (what will they be able to expresso next?).  So will this be competition for the ebook?  Will it help authors and publishers who couldn't otherwise get shelf-space in the big chains?   Only time will tell.  I know from personal experience that book buying, particularly in a shop, is often based on serendipity - you grab what's featured, on sale, being talked about, has an evocative cover.  None of these things are conducive to using the expresso machine.  The initial launch of the book machine at Angus and Robertson in Melbourne was not a success.  However, the new machine is lighter, faster, and might be a bit cheaper.  If those things come together with the increasing cost of property, warehousing and shelf-space, then perhaps this can be a win-win for everyone who loves and lives by books.  I have to admit that I often spend many hours searching for particular titles for gifts, and knowing I can pop into my local and get anything within a few minutes, at a good rate (that's probably fairly key), would be great.  As an author, if I knew I could send readers to their local shop for a copy of any of my books, or do a reading anywhere I might happen to be visiting at the drop of a hat, with no stock and still have infinite numbers of copies to sell, then this would be a significant win.  Still, the machines retail at about 100k, which equates to a lot of stock, so probably only the big guys would have one, and those big guys might end being the supermarket or chains like Wal-Mart or Target, which would be good for authors like me, but maybe not so good for those cozy little shops down the street that know you like a friend and make wonderful suggestions.  Not that I can think of any in my area that haven't gone under to Borders or A&R.  Alas.  The future marches on.