Burning the Page: The eBook revolution and the future of reading

the text and pop up with definitions to unfamiliar words or phrases at the tap of a finger. As more and more books get digitized, algorithms will start to mine texts for bits of slang and brand names and other culturally relevant references and automatically assemble them into minimally invasive, dictionary-like resources you can use while you read.
    It’s a neat reimagining, in which dictionaries are no longer curated by old men in beards like Daniel Webster himself, arranging index cards for decades into one man’s vision of what a dictionary should be. Instead, the culture creates its own dictionary. And the more content that’s used, the better the dictionary becomes and the more expansive it is.
    I can see what people like Erin are doing, and I look ahead a few years to a time when these live online dictionaries replace those embedded in e-readers. I also look forward to a time when such dictionaries perhaps let you see the author’s intent as you read, wavering into and out of focus below the iPad’s shimmery screen.
    But would you even use such dictionaries? Perhaps you think dictionaries already get in the way of your reading experience and you’d rather enjoy the flow of the author’s words without interrupting it. Or perhaps you think dictionaries are overkill and we already have enough basic words in our language to use to clearly express ourselves.
    A post on xkcd.com presented a plan for the Saturn V rocket but described its components using only the thousand most frequently used words in English. Surprisingly, the description was very readable. There’s no word for rocket, so the caption says, “Fire comes out here,” and likewise the crew capsule is a “people box.” It’s sheer brilliance. Just search online for “Saturn 5 top 1000” to see the full plan in all its glory. And while you’re at it, let me know what you think about the future of dictionaries and words!
    http://jasonmerkoski.com/eb/15.html

Language Change: “Whan that Aprille, with hise shoures soote…”
    Lingo S changiN fst 2day. tnk u cn kip ^ W it? gr8. NP.
    f nt, ur n 4 a vvv hrd time :(
    Our language is changing, and lexicographers are jumping out of their ivory-tower windows.
    The English language is no longer managed by an editorial team in the austere offices of Merriam-Webster, Inc., or the Oxford English Dictionary. Believe me, I know. I’ve met with their editors at their offices, and the spirit of the English language had fled. The English language is afoot in the world, and she’s not going to be penned up again.
    New words sometimes used to take decades to trickle into the vocabulary, but now that happens faster than a speeding SMS message. We even have words that aren’t, strictly speaking, words. Both n00b and w00t are examples of leetspeak, internet slang that has gone mainstream. One 2012 estimate suggested that 8,500 new words enter the English language every year. Most of these are product names, such as Twitter or iPad.
    What will language be like in the future? Will it be some strange hybrid of letters and numbers? Will new words be graced with arpeggios from the extended ASCII character set? Will we find serious works of fiction studded with smiley emoticons? Will the great American novel be written on a teen’s smartphone, one text message at a time, and broadcast live on the internet for everyone to read?
    Language change is fundamental and unavoidable. That said, ebooks are accelerating this change. Ebook self-publishing, for example, encourages new words to enter the lexicon faster than ever before. This is because self-published ebooks are usually edited only by the authors and not by traditional editors, a shift in the process that is used at major publishing houses. Unpoliced by vigilant editors, new words from street culture or internet subcultures sometimes slip into self-published ebooks, intrude into the language, and achieve mainstream status.
    And this is nothing to worry about.
    You see, ebooks will hasten the rapid change in language and aid in its transformation. But let me pause for a moment to explain language change by way of an example.
    I was in the hospital recently, visiting a friend recovering from surgery. She was coming out of anesthesia, and I was a little worried. There’s always a rare chance with anesthesia that a patient will die in her sleep. My friend had been out for a long time after the procedure and was finally coming round. As she grogged awake, I asked