*I'd argue that the second half of this Negroponte essay implies the death of all coherent long-form narrative, paper, electronic, or not.
http://www.minnpost.com/globalpost/2010/08/31/21013/the_paper_book_is_dead_long_live_the_narrative
(...)
"Paper books also do not do well in dampness, dirt, heat or rain. Not to mention that 320 textbooks require, on average, one tree and produce about 10,000 pounds of CO2 in manufacturing and delivery. This makes no sense. Kids in the developing world should not be sent physical books. (((I blame the children.)))
"The only way to provide books to the 2 billion children in the world is electronically. You cannot feed children or clothe them electronically, but you can certainly educate and provide hope with these weightless, sizeless and mostly costless 1’s and 0’s.
"Therein is the most practical reason that books cannot have paper pages. From here on in, it gets more subtle.
"Right now, a paper book is undeniably more comfortable to read than a computer display. Furthermore, the physical book and the library are emblematic of and loved by a literate and informed society. The library is also a gathering place and social venue.
"To suggest books are dead is considered heathen or geeky or both. (((Not for much longer, though, because the heathen geeks are the grown-ups in the house.))) And while today’s reading experience on an e-book is less than perfect, the basic concept is the right direction. They never go out of print. There is no marginal cost in making more. They are delivered at the speed of light. They take no storage space. They can be automatically translated. And, who knows, someday we will be able to squirt them directly into our heads without even reading...."
