I'm going to go against the tide and say that I do care whether the industry (for lack of a better word) lives or dies.  Not so much for myself - I have more games in my collection than I could ever actually play, and I can always find new players.  Rather, I'd like to know that 20 to 30 years from now, it will still be possible for a 13 year old kid to run across a copy of a RPG book (D&D 6th edition, most likely), and get themselves drawn into this hobby that I love so much.

Quote from: mearlsDepends. The RPG "industry" is pretty much a waste of time. I've met a number of cool people in gaming, but even more losers. The goofy politics and high school-level social scene is just pointless. To paraphrase a much smarter man than I, the politics in gaming are so vicious because the stakes are so low.

The bigger industry (toys & games) is just a collection of businesses, distributors, and retailers. I like cool game stores. I like companies that do good games. But I don't think there's any value in individual gamers obsessing over the entire mess as a whole.

Just play games and have fun.

I think that covers it quite well.

I care about games, gaming and having fun with it. Politics are just that. And in the case of gaming totally unneeded.

I think the internet will largely make the print industry obsolete.

Quote from: ZalmoxisI think the internet will largely make the print industry obsolete.

Occasionally, new technology *will* make an older technology obsolete.  Try to find a gas lighting company, for example.  But, in general, new technology does not replace the old unless it can do *everything* the old tech could do, at least as well or better.

Take music -- the cassette tape replaced the 8 track completely, because cassettes did everything better *and* let you record.  Then CDs came out -- they were better, but you couldn't record, so the two technologies lived side by side for a long time.  Once CD recording techology came in, though, the cassette started to fade away.

Print books have an advantage that no electronic medium can match yet -- you can take it anywhere, without the need of any power source, and read it.  Sure, you can print out a PDF, but that's often a pain in the ass, and also often more expensive than just buying a damn book.

No, while I can see the *potential* for an end to the print media, I think that any thoughts of its demise are very premature.  And it reminds me of the claims of the paperless office, too, which obviously is not ever going to happen.  

Quote from: ZalmoxisI think the internet will largely make the print industry obsolete.

I think print on demand (and the rising quality of home-printing solutions) have a better chance of it than the internet by itself.

CZ's right. Print won't become obsolete anytime soon due to the sheer handiness of an actual book. Computer users often seem to forget that there are a lot of people who either don't have a computer or, if they do, don't have a laptop that's convenient to carry around and read as a book. Plus reading on a computer screen is much more fatiguing to the eye than reading from a printed book. I think this last point is going to be the biggest hurdle to replacing print with all-electronic media. Eventually, I imagine, there will be something much like what you see on Babylon 5 or Andromeda, with thin, paper-like electronic "screens" or sheets that can be carried around like a piece of paper that store and display writing, and which aren't hard on the eyes. I don't see that happening soon, though.

Quote from: ColonelHardissonCZ's right. Print won't become obsolete anytime soon due to the sheer handiness of an actual book. Computer users often seem to forget that there are a lot of people who either don't have a computer or, if they do, don't have a laptop that's convenient to carry around and read as a book. Plus reading on a computer screen is much more fatiguing to the eye than reading from a printed book. I think this last point is going to be the biggest hurdle to replacing print with all-electronic media. Eventually, I imagine, there will be something much like what you see on Babylon 5 or Andromeda, with thin, paper-like electronic "screens" or sheets that can be carried around like a piece of paper that store and display writing, and which aren't hard on the eyes. I don't see that happening soon, though.

you mean like the librie?

Quote from: Thjalfiyou mean like the librie?

From what I've heard, those are just a first, tentative, expensive step down that road.

Quote from: Thjalfiyou mean like the librie?

Amazing stuff. I love e-Ink. Been keeping an eye on it for a couple years now.

The bit people don't realize right away is that an e-Ink display doesn't glow.... it doesn't radiate light at all. It's just a reflective surface like paper, except its color changes from black to white in tiny spots when a current is run through it. When the current stops, the image remains, so it uses tremendously little power.

Quote from: Thjalfiyou mean like the librie?

Not really, but that's interesting. I'm talking about something the thickness of a sheet of paper or a piece of film.

Quote from: CyberzombieFrom what I've heard, those are just a first, tentative, expensive step down that road.

While the librie is cool, I still don't see it replacing a paper book anytime soon...  The ease of paging through actual ... well, pages ... will be pretty tough to replace.

-O

Quote from: ColonelHardissonNot really, but that's interesting. I'm talking about something the thickness of a sheet of paper or a piece of film.

The display that the e-Ink is on IS that thin. And flexible. The only reason the device takes up more space is for the batteries and memory to hold the text.

It shouldn't be too hard to put a power supply and memory chip in the spine of a book. E-Ink-like technologies are very, very close to being able to make flippable pages that can display information on both sides.

Quote from: Name LipsThe display that the e-Ink is on IS that thin. And flexible. The only reason the device takes up more space is for the batteries and memory to hold the text.

OK, but that's still not paper-thin.

Quote from: Name LipsIt shouldn't be too hard to put a power supply and memory chip in the spine of a book. E-Ink-like technologies are very, very close to being able to make flippable pages that can display information on both sides.

I'm not sure what the point of having flippable page would be. I'm thinking of a single sheet type of thing, which can store and display entire books at the pace the reader wants - that is, you could "thumb-through" it, even though it's a single sheet. Easy to store and handle. This isn't anything I see happening anytime soon, since it'd be something that would involve quite a bit of miniaturization of storage and power.

But I appreciate your thoughts.

What I hope to see within a few years is a book that you can carry around with you that's linked to a library database wirelessly. It could download and display any book you want on its pages, and if the book is too long, you just get to the end, hit "next" and start at the front again. I like e-Ink because it doesn't need to be powered after it sets the pages, so it would work well for something like this. One pulse of power to re-set the entire contents of the book, then it just looks and feels like a real book.

I like the experience of flipping pages, using bookmarks, and tracking the words with my eyes. The concept of scrolling text irritates me. I want my text stationary, with my eyes moving at their own pace. That way I can re-read, flip back and check something, skip ahead, or whatever and not need to mess with controls.

I would imagine that what I envision could be easily made to either scroll or flip between pages at the reader's choice, much like a pdf. I guess a book that consists of multiple pages that can display downloaded information, so that it can become any book you like, in effect, would be interesting. I like the physicality of books also, I just don't know how practical or popular something like that would be.