Two College Newspaper Columnists Discuss Reading, e-Books, and Bookstores
We hope to make this a regular feature and post articles about library, archive, and related issues (like e-Books) on ResourceShelf. Feel free to send along any material that you think would make for a good post.
Today, we begin with two columns from two college papers. One similarity you'll notice IN BOTH columns is a mention in both about how much each author enjoys the SMELL of paper books. Perhaps e-Reader manufacturers can include some type of "Smell-O-Vision" like feature in their devices. (-:
Yet, with society 2.0 in full swing and the dawning of the Gadget Age before us, it was only a matter of time before technology wrangled the realm of the book.
Enter the e-book and its digital reading devices, such as Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s newborn iPad. They make an already simple activity into a mindless, detached scrolling of information.
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The e-book provides readers the opportunity to discover texts at a cheaper rate before making a hard copy purchase or investment. This process allows a book to go through a trial period to gauge its popularity before the printing investment is made. The environmental benefit of paperless e-books is also hard to ignore.
But what about those who would rather not buy a piece of hardware for $400 just to read? If publishers start exclusively publishing novels electronically, these individuals will miss out on important literary ventures.
In the end, I suppose it is up to each person to find what they think works best. I hope that publishers will continue to do right by readers. When it comes to textbooks, the e-book rates are definitely nothing to scoff at, but the glaring screen and inability to skim as freely is rather off-putting at the same time.
Personally, I prefer the smell of books and the way they contrast with one another on my shelf. To scroll through my literary gems in a digital playlist feels as though some of the culture and tradition would be lost.
You can find thousands of books all without having to go to the bookstore or library. These items are great, and for some may become another necessity in life like the cell-phone, laptop, iPod and digital camera, but they take away everything that is fun about reading.
I do not own any of these reading devices, and have no plans to purchase one in the near future. I love everything about going to bookstores and finding a book to read. I like the comfortable leather chairs, the wide array of stationary, board games, the smell of new books and the smell of coffee.
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These e-books are just another marketing excuse for something we must have, but don't really need. Who wants to carry around an e-book when you also have to carry around a countless number of other electronics? Where are you supposed to put it all?
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One of the main things that keep me skeptical about the Kindle is that on the Amazon Kindle website, it says that the Kindle is "1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines." This is other language for "If you sit on it, or drop it, it will not function."
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Despite all of the reasons I won't buy an e-book, this is the way our society is progressing. It's the next big gadget, and a hundred years from now may make people say "remember when there were bookstores, and you could read books on paper?"
You cannot stop change just like you cannot stop the use of the internet, television or cell phones.
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