The word "Book" is defined (so far as relevant) in the Oxford Dictionary as follows:
From http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/de...n/english/book
This definition is clearly outdated. It has manifestly failed to keep pace with usage and technology. Not only does it fail to encompass ebooks or audiobooks but it excludes any pages bound other than by glue or sewn. Personally, the existence of ebooks simply reinforces that I have always regarded the book as being the content and not the container, though there was little need to even think about this for much of the time I have been reading.
So to my question for discussion. What is the current meaning of the term "Book". Clearly the written or printed aspect of the Oxford dictionary definition must go, as must glued and sewn and bound. Pages are also probably no longer appropriate. This leaves us with a possible starting point of a work if we are to retain any aspect of the previous definition.
Perhaps it could be as simple as keeping the existing definition but with a new limb along the lines of:
I don't pretend to know the answer but would be interested in comments.
Quote:
|
A written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers: a book of selected poems |
This definition is clearly outdated. It has manifestly failed to keep pace with usage and technology. Not only does it fail to encompass ebooks or audiobooks but it excludes any pages bound other than by glue or sewn. Personally, the existence of ebooks simply reinforces that I have always regarded the book as being the content and not the container, though there was little need to even think about this for much of the time I have been reading.
So to my question for discussion. What is the current meaning of the term "Book". Clearly the written or printed aspect of the Oxford dictionary definition must go, as must glued and sewn and bound. Pages are also probably no longer appropriate. This leaves us with a possible starting point of a work if we are to retain any aspect of the previous definition.
Perhaps it could be as simple as keeping the existing definition but with a new limb along the lines of:
Quote:
|
A work capable of being contained in a book but contained in some other form such as a computer file. |