Per our class discussion on Tuesday, I'd like to share with you an article I found pondering the future of print in the age of the iPad and other digital devices.
Although we are studying the printed book, digital tablets have emerged and are here to stay. They are new and exciting, convenient and down right fun. There's no doubt they'll become more affordable and better as time goes on like cell phones and iPods have.
The article I chose discusses digital tablets, specifically the iPad. But this article is not just about throwing print into question, but rather, discusses how BOTH print and digital tablets, together, may vastly improve what we read and how we read it.
I don't see their insurgence as a print vs. digital divide. Rather, I feel the arrival of sophisticated digital devices, like the iPad, offer ANOTHER format to design for. How lovely. Each medium has it's advantages - The iPad can be interactive. Books are tactile and smell great - I believe both are needed.
As designers we are no longer restricted to one format. Now we can design our content in the most appropriate medium, taking advantage of each of their strengths. I imagine a lot of the same concepts for designing printed books applies to digital tablets, with some considerations.
Personally, I am super-excited about digital tablets and what they mean for publishing. A print designer through and through, I have always kept an arms-length away from the digital medium - only accumulating the necessary skills required to collaborate effectively with my digital designer counterparts. But the increasing availability of the sophisticated, Star Trekkian device, the iPad, triggers an excitement in the pit of my stomach when I think of the design possibilities. For the first time in my life, I am pining to become more digi-telligent in order to utilize my strong print background in the digital realm.
How do YOU feel about digital tablets and their impact on printed books?
Do you believe printed books will ultimately benefit from the utilitarian use of iPads?
Or is it all a bunch of hog wash and digital will take over for better or worse?
What do you think?
