An apposite point from Stephen Fry's light but interesting new series on language, concerning the digital versus printed word:
It sounds overly optimistic, perhaps, but I appreciate this view of books and e-books coexisting and complementing each other for different types of reading, rather than one eventually usurping the other, and together encouraging people to read more by whatever means.
The state of the printed book market, however, is skirted around or not really touched on. While it is true that radio did not replace newspapers and the internet has not replaced television, those examples are perhaps wilfully beside the point; it is true, for example, that CDs replaced cassettes, which I consider a more comparable reference as they store essentially the same information. Radio and newspapers may give us the same news, but they do not use the same words or communicative methods.
I will have a further look into the figures later.
Fry's Planet Word, 2011. [TV programme] BBC, BBC HD, 16 October 2011 21.00.
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