Here’s a brilliant but BRIEF RANT by Bret Victor, a guy who knows his way around graphic user interfaces. His thesis is that our current wave of handheld devices, as exemplified by ereaders, smartphones and tablet computers, is merely a sidestep in a technological evolution that actually leaves out a valuable part of human experience.
It’s justification, as far as I’m concerned, that what I’ve said for a few years now will become the future — the future of books. Victor doesn’t come right out and say it, but the point of his essay is, ultimately, the reason that books will never be replaced, no matter how many varieties of ereaders eventually tsunami the market.
Books, simply, work.