I recently read an article by Craig Mod about where print media will be once everything goes digital.
I’ve always been the one wearing the boards and clanging the bell proclaiming the death of ink on tree bark, but this article makes a lot of very convincing points. For the lazy among us (no shame in it), here is a rundown of what’s mentioned:
- He first defines “formless” and “definite” content. Things like plain text books can be considered formless, but when words or passages are placed on the page in a specific pattern or location, the form matters and it is considered “definite”.
- Formless content is easily propagated to any medium (mobile, desktop, laptop, paperback, newsprint), but definite content loses meaning when moved to a new canvas.
- Mod claims the iPad is something of a “universal container” that can present any content, formless or definite, anywhere, due to it’s high resolution, weight, size, and digital nature.
- Mod also claims that print’s niche will be found in creating books to last: Hardcover collector’s items intended to be something to own and be proud of, rather than the average throwaway paperback.
While I am very doubtful if the iPad is the Universal container, I can say that new generation eReaders will be at least the planetary container. eReaders will be able to represent probably 95% of all definite content, but I can envision certain situations where a screen is simply no substitute for pages. Definite content can rely on the fact that pages are double-sided, single-sided, or even stacked in succession (think a flipbook animation). While we can appreciate a photo of a painting, it will never be able to 100% reproduce the painting as art.
I do, however, agree that when books are made to be owned rather than consumed, they take on a wholly different value. I own around 15 Readers’ Digest collected fiction books from the mid 1900s. While I could get all of the stories contained within as electronic texts on virtually any device, their value as physical entities on my shelf is much more than anything defined by zeros and ones. It is the same concept behind DVD Box sets; anyone can go download entire seasons of their favourite show from iTunes, but there is something that makes us want to have the box set with 20 matching discs. Is it a matter of exhibition, that we enjoy demonstrating our belongings to others? Perhaps, but I believe there is more to the story.
As I’m firmly rooted cemented in the medium of digital games, this conversation turns my mind to the discussion of digital distribution. While many gamers (myself included) will swear by digital distribution services like Steam, there is still a large contingent who “just like having the dvd and the box”. I do understand them, in a way. I sometimes will look fondly on old game boxes, remembering how I felt when I first read the promotional copy on the back. Maybe you will remember how you felt when you ripped open that present on Christmas day and lost your shit. I can safely confirm this to you: no one will pull a download voucher out of their stocking and feel that intense sense of excitement. No one.
I know I’ve gone on FAR too long for a blog post, so I’ll leave you guys with a link to what would help physical copies of digital games claim their niche in the same way print will. Games will have to adopt something of a “Criterion Collection”, a fresh printing run with all DLC, all patches and striking box art designed by an artist rather than a marketing director. This NeoGAF thread gives a lot of great designs for a “GAF Collection” for games. You can view the entire collection in an easy-to-read format here.
