Perhaps I'm the only one, but doesn't it bother you that more and more people are reading books online or on their iPods, Kindles, iPhones, iPads, laptops, and e-readers? And that less and less people are reading actual books?? I've often considered the allure of the kindle, the e-reader...buy one online, and your cost of books plummets. Its cheaper, its smaller, and you can carry around about a gazillion books on it. Everyone is doing it...you can even get a game for the Nintendo DS that contains about 200 books.
Although I've considered it, I can't succumb to it. There is no way a battery operated piece of plastic, metal, and wires could replace the wonder that is a book. There is nothing more wonderful than opening up a book, inhaling deeply, and just savoring that musty smell of old tomes, or the fresh smell of paper and ink in new ones. Also, books don't run on batteries, so they don't need to be charged. Plus, each book is an individual. There really is something wonderful about a book. Please, don't boycott the book for the fancy digital stuff. A book won't break on you, a book doesn't need a warranty, and a book will probably be around when all of us are dead and gone...unless we give up on them now. It doesn't need stuff loaded onto it, and its a perfect gift to give without breaking the bank. Consider this: if books have been working just fine for us for centuries...why should we change that now?
If you like your Kindle/iPhone/iPad/iPod/e-reader, etc., I'm not telling you to get rid of it, not at all! I'm just saying to please keep the book in mind. Its a wonderful thing and should be cared for, cherished, and most of all respected and enjoyed.
Stupid Kindle! I hope, soon, they will tell us how bad that reading books off of a screen is for our eyes and all of that nonsense will go kaput. For shame.
ReplyDelete774 books or thereabouts published a day in the USA in 3005 and it grows each year. I don't think we need worry about running out soon.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter loves her Kindle. She travels for work so it's good for her. I personally am not interested.
I do read books online but always the free ones and then only because I could not find a hard copy.
The smell of bookstores and librarys are my favorite smells. Alas I'm losing my sense of smell and I miss it already.
I totally agree. i prefer to get my books from the dusty shelves of the library or an old, dark bookstore NOT itunes. it takes longer, costs more, and then the books takes up an obscene amount of space in my room but its the atmosphere and experience that make books special.
ReplyDeletei use books, the ones i get bored of or don't like become collage paper :)
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your support! Its good to know there are still people out there who care about books as much as I do! And Tom, I will agree that using old books for collage paper is a lot of fun and a good way to reuse and recycle. You should look up Altered Books online and try out some projects like that. I do a little when I have the time.
ReplyDeletePlus, how on earth are you supposed to stick Post-It notes to mark your favorite passages on an e-book? Or scribble your thoughts in the margins? You can't, that's what!
ReplyDeleteAmen to that, Chessie!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said. For me, I just don't feel like the experience is enjoyable when I read from some sort of digital device. I love holding a book, turning the pages, being able to quickly flip through it and find passages, or peak ahead. I love the feeling of the diminishing thickness as you read through a book. I just don't get any of this from digital readers. I will be a book reader for life!
ReplyDeleteAn electronic "book" device has invaded our house, and the books are not happy. I think I saw them making a big stack of themselves to topple over on it as it was recharging. They were trying to recruit the OED but he was too busy. If that device wanders near the poetry shelves, it's done for, I tell you. Emily, Charles, T.S., Arthur, William, look sharp: if that thing comes near, give Uncle Walt the high sign, and he'll dispatch it with a barbaric yawp.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that! On the news recently they were talking about this and some publisher said they sold more electronic books than paper books in America, I hope it's not true! I think it is another fad, some people just like gismos and if they read when otherwise they wouldn't bother then I suppose it has it's uses. I would sooner chop my hands off :)
ReplyDelete