Books

The human race has very much been depending on the sharing of stories, legends and sagas. The first ancient civilizations captured their rules, their stories and their religious texts in the written form.  It was a stable and constant expression of what was important for the communities, the city rules or the interpretation of that law’s concepts. When the message is written down its modification is hard to exact and its interpretation is universally understood. Comparing to the old wisdom based on the verbal interpretations of anybody can add some side messages to the original ancient story so that the whole meaning may diverted from the original trajectory. This kind of mistake is impossible when text is written in the fixed and stable alphabetic form which everybody understands. Then the likely chances are large discussion may start about the exact meaning of the written text but not about the content.

From the old hieroglyphic symbols to the modern alphabetical systems used worldwide the main obstacle to spread the written texts was the capacity of the production of the writers to make enough copies of original texts.  Most frequent texts were religion and focused so the main copyright was given to the various orders, priests or high representatives of these religious communities. Over the centuries these texts were copied by re-writing and it was slow and time-consuming procedure. This was a main factor in the limitation of the number of available texts for any further use. 

Since the invention of Guttenberg’s printing machine we may see the enormous increase of book production in the way we understand today. As soon as the printing machines and the whole new technology of creating books become commonly known the unlimited expansion of knowledge-based industry started. The authors started to write the books about philosophy, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, architecture, engineering and many, many more other subjects of interest. The main purpose was to encapsulate all available knowledge of mankind into the books and protect it against any future loss. The readers started to consume these books and sometimes they prepared their own theories or interpretations. These new books were published and this helped to create the scientific or educational book market.

Another segment of the book industry started when authors begin to create their own stories. Often beautifully used words in the new relationships made these stories known worldwide. Medieval theatre comedies, poets or philosophical studies were showing to the readers with a new found wisdom. It becomes an important cultural heritage of the civilized world.

Nowadays the books are representative of a huge number of types, orientation or language quality. On the bookshelves of the world it is possible to find nearly everything what people have created or discovered over the last few centuries. The books having a lot of additional functions. They not only represent the wealth of the owner they also represent the culture or the personal interest orientation. People may collect and capture books about gardening, building architecture, history, autobiographies or special themes as painting or the art of the war. As mankind can now read there is a huge demand for new stories, special themes or newly appointed aspects of known stories they already exist.

The book itself transformed nowadays into the electronic format. It means that the big and often ugly bookshelves standing in the many living rooms or bed rooms might be replaced by the electronic gadgets enables us to give the readers the pleasure to walk through the story and provoke the imagination.

It doesn’t matter in which physical or electronic format the book exists. The importance is the daily production of books increases day by day. From the enormous book production, the experienced readers should be able select carefully what they would like to read. Somebody is going to be motivated by the name of the author or theme. People love to read Agatha Christie’s stories over and over again because they simply like the way how she wrote them. Some texts become a classic – for example Rudyard Kipling, Shakespeare, Jules Verne or Machiavelli may be known by everybody who claims to be called an educated person.

The history of mankind was influenced by the books. They were the sources of the knowledge, the wisdom, the information, the new political constructions or the inspiration of new ideas. The most important is that people like to read books. Reading is an activity between the book itself and the reader. Patience, imagination and alignment with the presenting story or facts is a vital part of our culture. There are no more needs than a good light and comfortable seat is required. These simple substances can create the wonderful cocktail of sparkling feeling and new ideas which may be materialized. This is a final effect in which a good book may provide the reader.

Books may change an attitude, a set of values, a preferences or a life orientation. Readers may become scientists if the science is presented as a splendid kind of work.  Or they may become doctors, travellers or inventors if the books assured them about their own capabilities. Books are important more than before because on their basis we may still learn about other nations, cultures or attitudes. As more people will know more about the other people than the level any potential conflict may decrease. The enemy is often someone whom we don’t know. We have no information about their capability to accept our values of cultural context. As soon as our values will be known by the others and their values will be known to us than the mutual understanding may occur.

Stories inside of books are hidden treasures which can help us not to be lost from the human trajectory. Every book which is read and understood pushes a boundary of the common human values a bit further. Every pleased reader who laughed or smiled while reading the funny story or has been educated by the book is made a happier or better person because books have the magical power to make us better. This fact which should not been forgotten. A community of happy readers and good authors is a brotherhood of people who like the words and the stories.

In the ideal world the censorship, copyright law, limited language versions would not been existing because of massive use of artificial intelligence. As soon as the translations will be just technical operation managed by computers then the freedom of sharing the stories will be enormous. In such situations people with access to the internet will have the unlimited number of books in any language. Electronic files are going to be messengers of this new type of freedom. The question is if the people currently surrounded by millions of electronic or classical books would not prefer the new kind of entertainment. Google glasses, holography, video on demand or video games are still going to be a books competitor.

As always it will depend on the consumers what they would prefer. Books represent a tradition, long lasting experience and possibility to return into the specific part of the text without the rewind video file. Bookmarks in the classical form are enabling to the reader to cooperate with the content of the book in user friendly format.

Books are here for centuries and it would be a great pity if they will be lost and their traditional status in the foreseen future unknown.