i'm not gonna get trapped in this "debate" again.  i'm not.

i'm just here to tell it like it is, this one time, and then i'm
done with this stupid topic.

when a book is released as a formless blob, and people
have no option for standardizing that blob, they'll find
that it is difficult to have discussions about that book,
because they will be unable to point to specific places.

if books are formless blobs, this problem is inevitable.

people will invent forms of "standardizing" the blobs, and
they will utilize various tools that allow them to "point",
but they will eventually realize that page-numbers are
a pretty good idea, with a long-standing history and
excellent familiarity, so that's how the issue will resolve.

and this answer is just as inevitable as the problem was.

people who just want to read a book, and who have
no need to discuss the book with other human beings,
will be happy with a formless blob that allows them to
render the book (either on-screen or printed-out) in a
way that accords with their preferences.  that is great.

but people who have a desire to discuss the book with
other people will quickly come to an agreement that
they need to have a standardized format to aid dialog.

the "canonical" version -- with "canonical pagination" --
will serve as this standardized format.  that is inevitable.

page-numbers are most decidedly _not_ "old-fashioned".

print-on-demand machines have already slashed the price
of one-off books to a-penny-a-page, so we have _not_
seen the end of printed books.  indeed, we are like to see
the number of printed-books _increase_ in coming decades.

(their percentage will dwindle, compared to e-books, but
the total _number_ of printed-books will increase, steadily.
not only are they convenient, they are tangible souvenirs.
if a book is _meaningful_ to you, it'll be a badge of pride
that you paid a few dollars for your own physical version,
one that is unique to you, not just a copy of a digital file.
it's the rough equivalent of buying a t-shirt at a concert.)

so the world will continue to be awash in printed-books.

and yes, many of these books will be "one-offs" where
their pagination is different from every other "one-off".

but many of them will utilize "the canonical pagination"
because their readers will _want_ the "standard" edition.
(for one, it'll be easier to prove that it's "the real thing",
and hasn't been corrupted in some nefarious fashion.)

that's the way things will turn out.  mark my words, folks.
because i'm not gonna tell you again.  you are too dense.

-bowerbird

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