An article by Mike Elgan in Computer World Magazine, laying the boot into e-books, has sparked a surprisingly intelligent discussion on Digg. According to Elgan, e-books are bound to fail because..

They aren’t cheaper – both the hardware and content are more expensive
Content is available on other platforms (e.g.: PC)
People love paper books

In John Barnes dystopian novel ‘Kaleidoscope Century‘, the protagonist occupies a 21st century a million miles away from the ordinarily rosy scientific positivism of most Science Fiction. In Barnes’s future, rival armies systematically utilise rape as a weapon in continually escalating conflicts, and alienated soldiers move as mercenaries from one side to another, too damaged to consider the impact of their actions. When we read articles like the following from Newsweek, detailing the horrific injuries inflicted on women by combatants in the Congo conflict, it’s difficult to consider such predictions …