The Virtual Codex

Summary

• Ebooks have tried to become more like normal print books in that they allow for people to highlight parts that interest them or annotate in the book now like they could do with print books before. 
• Heinz von Föerster states that people need to focus more on "how" a book "does" its particular actions, rather than "what" a book "is."
• The biggest ways that ebooks are said to be separated from print books is that print books are static while ebooks are interactive, giving the reader more to work with. 

Comment

There will always be the argument of what is better, ebooks or a print book. People can think of 100 things supporting each one but it all depends on preference. Some people, like me, prefer holding the physical book and turning pages. Some are more practical and like a small handheld device that can fit many books on it. 

Question

The reading states "I would suggest that the slowness by which new formats have arisen is as much the result of conceptual obstacles as technical ones. The absence of an e-book with the same brand-recognition as Kleenex or Xerox isn't due only to the fact that the phrase "electronic document management and information display systems and spaces for inter-subjective and associative hyper-linked communication using aggregation, folksonomies, and real-time authoring and participatory editing" doesn't trip off the tongue." Do you think that Amazon's Kindle, being so widely known, helped other companies to create they're own idea of an ebook and expand the desire to have one?