43 Folders discusses a new online website called Daily Lit.  Basically, what this does is take great literature and email segments to you, one after another, for you to read.  It’s premise is that so many people are too busy online these days that they don’t get a chance to physically read.  So this service sends you emails with short, readable parts of the book every day.  If you want to read more in a single sitting, you can click a button and the next part is sent to you.

From Daily Lit’s FAQ:

Why read books by email?

Because if you are like us, you spend hours each day reading email but don’t find the time to read books. DailyLit brings books right into your inbox in convenient small messages that take less than 5 minutes to read. This works incredibly well not just on your computer but also on a Treo, Blackberry, Sidekick or whatever the PDA of your choice. In the words of Dr. Seuss: Try it, you might like it! (Oops — it would appear that the actual quote from Green Eggs and Ham is “You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may.”)

I can’t decide if this is a GREAT THING or if this a BAD SIGN.  It’s getting people to read literature they want to read - so what if they don’t get the physical book from the library or buy it from a bookstore?  Isn’t it just a matter of medium - like audiobooks?  Actually, this might fit really neatly into my own life - I never thought I’d have time to read War and Peace, and since I’m online so much of my day, it may now be possible.  I will have access to tons of literature, at the click of a button.  Equality at its best.

But…why isn’t there time to read a book?  Is there something we are losing by disconnecting ourselves from the physical act of holding a book, turning the pages?  Is it only because I’m a bibliophile that I like the feel of a book page, can tell how well a book is made through that and its binding?  Or is there something to be gained by putting one’s life to the side for a moment and picking up a physical book and actually reading it?  What about those rainy days where it is perfect to snuggle into the couch and pick up a book?  Will that be changing to blinking in front of the computer screen? 

How does that change our reading experience?  How does that change our comprehension of written text?  Will it affect our enjoyment of reading?  Will reading become one more item on the “to do” list in order to be a viable member of our technological world?  Will even our pasttimes revolve around being connected to the internet, checking our email? 

Will it become expected that you are connected, 24/7?  Will “reading a book” cease to be a way to relax?

For that matter, I wonder what will be happening to libraries - already underfunded - and the book industry.  What about people who still don’t have regular internet access? 

Is this just the new world and I have to get used to it?  Will I be one of those anachronistic old people who still fills shelves with paper and glue based literature?  Will collecting books have more to do with the medium than the age (say it isn’t so, to my full set of Alexander Dumas from 1880)?

Yes, I know nothing has happened yet, and libraries are still around.  I’m not freaking. But I’m taking a moment to contemplate the inherent benefits we get from physically doing something.  I’m asking the questions that perhaps few are asking. 

http://www.43folders.com/2007/08/01/dailylit/