E-Readers, E-Books and digital books seem to be the nouveau gadget on the shelves at the moment. My friend Gary bought one when he was over from Hong Kong at Christmas. The question that hung in my mind was; are these new digital slabs that can contain hundreds of books going to replace real books, just like digital cameras largely (but not completely) replaced film based cameras for the consumer?
Personally I don't think you can beat a good old fashioned book, the smell, the well worn covers of it being read many times and the aged brown tinged worn pages. A book has so much character and nothing looks better than a myriad of book spines on a shelf. Imagine a world where there were no books, just an E-reader sat alone on a shelf - How sterile that would be?
As I gather, much of the wood used for books, newspapers and such like comes from sustainable forestry these days or is at least moving that way.
Don't get me wrong, I love my gadgets but at the end of the day but you can only read one book at a time, or if you are studying you are only going to take the relevant books with you to college or Uni.
I have several reservations about e-readers. You could spend ages putting a book collection on one, only to drop it or have an accident with it and lose the lot, you drop a book and all you need to do is simply pick it up again - unbroken. Society is ever leaning towards recycling and being more minimal but I seriously don't think e-readers will catch on, unattractive coloured slabs that strain your eyes and when the battery runs out, you have to stop reading!
They might find a niche market but for me, I love to fawn over a book, paw gently at the pages, delight in illustrations, photos and maps. Books are special, you come into contact with them as a child and new worlds of fact and fiction open up. Then of course books become a constant throughout your life. I remember when I was about 13 or 14 reading the Lord of the Rings whilst on holiday with my family in a farm house over looking the sea near Scarborough. The farmhouse was nestled beside woodland and sat at the bottom of some rolling hills, the setting was as magical as the book and in my young imagination the environment and the book became one. I spent much of the week reading in seclusion or walking with my dad among the amazing countryside, imagining the adventures of the characters in the book.
It's funny how you treat favourite or special books with reverence, gently turning the pages and caressing the covers.
I'm not a Luddite, I love my technology but I love my books too, I'm sure much of what I have read makes me the person I am today. You can't beat the book!
Personally I don't think you can beat a good old fashioned book, the smell, the well worn covers of it being read many times and the aged brown tinged worn pages. A book has so much character and nothing looks better than a myriad of book spines on a shelf. Imagine a world where there were no books, just an E-reader sat alone on a shelf - How sterile that would be?
As I gather, much of the wood used for books, newspapers and such like comes from sustainable forestry these days or is at least moving that way.
Don't get me wrong, I love my gadgets but at the end of the day but you can only read one book at a time, or if you are studying you are only going to take the relevant books with you to college or Uni.
I have several reservations about e-readers. You could spend ages putting a book collection on one, only to drop it or have an accident with it and lose the lot, you drop a book and all you need to do is simply pick it up again - unbroken. Society is ever leaning towards recycling and being more minimal but I seriously don't think e-readers will catch on, unattractive coloured slabs that strain your eyes and when the battery runs out, you have to stop reading!
They might find a niche market but for me, I love to fawn over a book, paw gently at the pages, delight in illustrations, photos and maps. Books are special, you come into contact with them as a child and new worlds of fact and fiction open up. Then of course books become a constant throughout your life. I remember when I was about 13 or 14 reading the Lord of the Rings whilst on holiday with my family in a farm house over looking the sea near Scarborough. The farmhouse was nestled beside woodland and sat at the bottom of some rolling hills, the setting was as magical as the book and in my young imagination the environment and the book became one. I spent much of the week reading in seclusion or walking with my dad among the amazing countryside, imagining the adventures of the characters in the book.
It's funny how you treat favourite or special books with reverence, gently turning the pages and caressing the covers.
I'm not a Luddite, I love my technology but I love my books too, I'm sure much of what I have read makes me the person I am today. You can't beat the book!
1 comment:
I'm so with you on the Book thing.
I am a tech geek and love the simplicity, lightness and niftyness that comes with a Reader but there is nothing that compares to the smell, texture and wonderfulness that is a book, or indeed a bookshelf.
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