In the generation of eBooks (Kindle, Nook, Play), physical books are becoming old news, and some predict they will soon become antiques. “Well, then i’ll become an antiquarian,” I say. It makes me sad sometimes that so many in the world are alien to the joy of turning a page to read just a little more, they only swipe on glass. Probably that is why the fragrance industry is taking to developing perfumes that smell like old paper and books – in the future, these perfumes might be the only evidence of an era of romance between paper and ink.
Ever so often, the news have headlines like, ‘DC’s libraries have far fewer books and way more e-books’, ‘Aldi gets into ebooks: Will we see local supermarkets do the same?’, ‘This app turns your physical books into free e-books’ (yeah!) What started as a novelty in the 90’s, might soon be the death of physical books.
But wait! Are we judging too quick?
While book stores and libraries are going digital, one publishing house in France is setting up vending machines for stories on paper. In October 2015, Short Edition, a French publishing house startup, installed short story dispensers at the Grenoble train station in the French Alps. It is annoying to wait for trains everyday before commuting to and from work, why not have a short story to read while you’re waiting, they thought. Why paper? Director, Christophe Sibieude said, “Our ambition is to see distributors pop up everywhere to encourage reading – and writing – and to promote our artists. Smartphones have blurred the limits between our professional life and our distractions. The paper medium is a breath of fresh air, it’s more unexpected than a smartphone screen.”
And now, there are short story dispensers setup in public places all across not just Grenoble, but also San Francisco. They have three numbered buttons: one, three, and five, referring to how many minutes a story will take to read. After you make your choice, a light will flicker and a long ticket – something like a supermarket receipt – will slip out with a story on it. “Improbable things have happened since we got these,” an employee working near one of these vending machines said. “Tourists have taken selfies with them. They work incredibly well, and it’s not even peak season.” Ten minutes later, the machine was out of paper.
The founders of Short Edition have requests lined up from around the world, including a high school in Tunisia, a festival on Australia’s Gold Coast, and chain stores in the United States. “Imagine a short story dispenser in every Starbucks,” they say.
And, guess what? The headlines are changing. ‘Kindle sales initially outstripped hardbacks but have slid fast since 2011’, ‘Sony killed off its e-readers’, ‘Amazon has opened its first bookshop’. Waterstones last year stopped selling Kindles and e-books outside the UK, switched shelf space to books and saw a 5% rise in sales.
Now the official Publishers’ Association confirms the trend. Last year (2015), digital content sales fell from £563m to £554m. After years on a plateau, physical book sales turned up, from £2.74bn to £2.76bn. Now that’s news!
So the next time you are visiting France or San Francisco, be sure to try a story!
Hi Jahnavi, our group made our technology of the week video about the the disruption of the book industry. When researching the topic we also found that that digital book sales were actually decreasing, so I found your post very interesting. I really like the idea of selling / distributing short stories to read. Life is getting increasingly more fast paced,and offering short stories seems the way to adapt to this. In my opinion Vice (vice.com) does a similar thing by offering ~15 min videos instead of the regular, longer tv programs. I’m curious to see when the first short story dispenser will be set up in the Netherlands!