For three years up until very recently I worked at a medical school/ research university bookstore. Five years ago they started planning for the death of the book -- "Replace a 20 pound Braunwald Cardiology with a 3 ounce CD!"

It didn't happen at all. Many books include CD supplements (which are better for quick searches, can have better graphics, and can be interactive.) But the CD-only stock consists of one shelf in a back room (1% of the total stock, maybe) and consists almost entirely of installable spell-checks and dictionaries for transcriptionists and secretaries, standardized training materials for routine in-services, and reviews for standardized tests which are taken online.

For three years up until very recently I worked at a medical school/ research university bookstore. Five years ago they started planning for the death of the book -- "Replace a 20 pound Braunwald Cardiology with a 3 ounce CD!"

It didn't happen at all. Many books include CD supplements (which are better for quick searches, can have better graphics, and can be interactive.) But the CD-only stock consists of one shelf in a back room (1% of the total stock, maybe) and consists almost entirely of installable spell-checks and dictionaries for transcriptionists and secretaries, standardized training materials for routine in-services, and reviews for standardized tests which are taken online.

Very interesting read - the original refered to by Sterling is an Illustrated Travelog to London intellectual salons by a Parisian writer in French.

Beyond the Imminent Book Death meme, it has two other memes that we would recognise.

First of these is the New Technology Totally Changes the World meme - in this case it was the Phonograph that would spell death of books and libraries while the Photography was predicted to mean death of painting (author states that 'at the begining of 21st century there will be no paintings'). Seeing the falacy of these arguments can perhaps help to inform us next time another technological panacea comes about.

Second meme is the Imminent Death of the Earth due to environmental changes. In this case it was to be precipitated by the cooling of the Sun! Apparently the demise would occur in 2000 years. The theory was based on the work by imminent physicist Helmholtz.

Thanks for pointing these fascinating resources.

Very interesting read - the original refered to by Sterling is an Illustrated Travelog to London intellectual salons by a Parisian writer in French.

Beyond the Imminent Book Death meme, it has two other memes that we would recognise.

First of these is the New Technology Totally Changes the World meme - in this case it was the Phonograph that would spell death of books and libraries while the Photography was predicted to mean death of painting (author states that 'at the begining of 21st century there will be no paintings'). Seeing the falacy of these arguments can perhaps help to inform us next time another technological panacea comes about.

Second meme is the Imminent Death of the Earth due to environmental changes. In this case it was to be precipitated by the cooling of the Sun! Apparently the demise would occur in 2000 years. The theory was based on the work by imminent physicist Helmholtz.

Thanks for pointing these fascinating resources.