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Yesterday, between enjoying chapters of Generation X, I did some web surfing on Mr. Coupland, and thanks to Canada Read’s resident blogger Flannery , I found a Coupland NYTimes blog entry from 2006 that got me thinking about the future of printed books. I think books are here to stay- – otherwise I have no reason to live – -  Coupland’s blog predicts, rather gleefully, the eventual demise of the printed book.  Then he goes off on some rant about making wasp nests out of his novels.

Coupland argues that as a result of technological advances or human extinction, books will no longer exist in the distant future. This pisses me off. I get rather touchy about the suggestion that books are an intermediary technology. It’s like that media buzz in the 70′s about  the death of the novel.  Well I think Oprah would agree, that turned out to be absolute crap.

I believe popular culture, particular  block-buster films, influence our ideas about the future. People who grew up watching Star Wars and Star Trek think that, in the future, people will colonize other planets, fly around in space ships, and wear matching jumpsuits. In this future, technological progress is infinite and , for some inexplicable reason, people correspond via video feed. And, of course, there is no room for old-fashioned printed books in this digital world.

Minor digression:  Who thought up the video phone? It is a terrible idea. I don’t want people seeing me in my house wearing my Minnie Mouse PJs with chocolate smeared all over my face. Plus, the phone sex industry would die if guys could see who they were getting off on, and that would be a shame.

Regarding the future of human civilization, I sit firmly in the other, less optimistic, camp,  I am taking my cues from such uplifting films as I am Legend, The Road (also a kickass book), and The Book of Eli. I predict a post-apocalyptic world where a virus, or chemical weapons, or possibly global warming, have killed off most living things and the few remaining people are stumbling around the barren landscape foraging for cans of expired peaches and hoarding wet wipes, which they will later use as currency.

Will there be books in this desolate future? Well, if you consider *The Book of Eli  an accurate prediction of the future, then you bet your ass there will be. Books will coveted and sought out as a means of rebuilding society and restoring  humanity in the hopes that people will stop eating each other and dressing like extras from Mad Max. True, some books (The Bible) are  dangerous in the wrong hands (Gary Oldman or George W.) but that is neither here nor there. The point is that books will survive. There will be less of them and they may be slight charred around the edges but they will be there. Just try recharging your Kindle or your Sony Reader in the post-apocalyptic future and see how far you get.

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that the apocalypse doesn’t happen and we continue along our merry way in an ever-expanding digital age. Will books become obsolete? Well, they have held up pretty well since the first books were printed in 1455(I’m not providing a link but look it up, I dare ya) and they are still  popular today. Sure, 2009 brought about the mass market release of digital book readers and this technology definitely has its place in the publishing industry. They are  handy for avid readers who travel, or for reading books that you don’t want people to know you are reading (see the most downloaded title of 2009). I also think they are a suitable  format for textbooks that are regularly updated.

Some formats of print media – newspapers and magazines – would also do well to go completely digital considering their timely material. Novels, however, are timeless and the tactile quality of a physical books is strangely satisfying. We also have an emotional connection to the books we collect – at least I do – and that is why they are so enduring.

So I’m not saying that Coupland is full of crap. I’m just saying he MIGHT be full of crap.

*Even if you don’t see Book of Eli, read Roger Ebert’s review, it’s hilarious.