The influence of the book is fast declining. Obviously, books will not go away, they will be available for the indefinite future, but their utility and value will diminish as a means of transmitting information as electronic techniques revolutionize not only data storage and retreival, but the nature of learning itself.
As for myself, as someone indoctrinated in the culture of the book but familiar (if not expert) with modern methods, I am very conscious of this transition, much more so I think than those who are just a few years younger than I and more comfortable with information processing technology. I have noticed here in the Zone that many of the participants are obviously prepared to discuss or respond to an item of discussion by taking advantage of the instant access to information and analyses provided by the internet. Truly, it is a library at our fingertips, and even though it shares a library's limitations as well as capabilities, it has the obvious advantage of convenience and speed. I use this resource myself, although I confess not as expertly or efficiently as I could with only a little more care and effort. I.e, I don't rely on it to the same extent, and I often forget it is even available to me and bore you with questions I could easily answer for myself in a moment.
But the book is more than just a collection of convenient facts, annotated and arranged by an expert and tied together to reflect a specific opinion or point of view. No one can remember all of this anyway, and the book must be referred to constantly if used in this way, and frequently updated and compared with new work to be truly useful. For example, consider reading a classic of fiction, such as "Moby Dick". On the surface, it is an entertaining adventure story. At other levels it functions as a summary of the mid-nineteenth century's scientific and practical knowledge of the whale's biology and ecology, and a detailed look at the whaling industry, it's equipment and skills and even its financial and commercial implications. Also covered are poetical and historical allusions, psychological observations on the men who hunt them, and the details of their work and craft, and on the ships and the sea itself that are the stage on which the action plays out. At even deeper levels, the book has a metaphysical dimension that looks at the relationship between man and the Universe itself. After all, Captain Ahab is a man who has declared war on God himself, and everyone of his crew is enlisted into the battle.
Most of us read the book in our youth, perhaps once again many years later, but unless we are students of literary criticism, few of us really have in our minds a coherent understanding of all these facets of the novel. No one could possibly remember them all, for one thing, and some parts may have impressed us more than others. Still, reading a book like "Moby Dick" allows us to immerse ourselves in another time and place, as well as in Hermann Melville's mind and intellect, and all of his influences and experiences. This all becomes part of our subconscious and intellect, it alters the way we are and think. The story of the White Whale is more than just an internet entry on the difference between a lance and a harpoon, or some other technical detail which can easily be looked up. It alters the way we think, forever, about many things, even though its individual parts and incidents soon vanish to our memory.
No one, except the most devout, memorizes Scripture, but even the atheist must recognize the profound effect this work has had on our civilization and on every one of us. My political opinions are profoundly influenced by "Brave New World" and "1984", although I imagine every detail I can immediately recall of these works could probably be regurgitated in just ten minutes. Homer, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Dante, all of these have an impact that change us deeply, above and beyond the details of the plots or the protagonists. Even popular novels and entertainments, the white bread of literature, can have a lasting ability to transform us, and see the world differently. CS Forester and the Hornblower Saga, or Alfred Bester's "Demolished Man" and "The Stars my Destination" immediately come to mind for me. Again, it is not the totality of what is in these works that stays with us, we don't remember but a fraction of what is written; it is that while we are immersed in them they become part of us, and part of them remains with us forever. We are changed by them.
The culture of the book is slowly disappearing, and substitutes for it, such as film and music, are taking its place. The Internet and the computer are now becoming the primary conveyors and transmitters of, not just information, but culture itself. This will have a profound effect on our civilization, an effect I can already see in our youth.