I've been thinking about e-reader's lately. The Kindle, the iPad - is it time to get one? They look like fun and there is a certain appeal. The ability to hold 1000s of books in your hand on a thin tablet - Wow! No longer does one have to choose which books to take along on a trip. The ability to resize print at will also appeals to me. So often I'm at the gym and my movement on the treadmill makes the usual tiny print impossible to read. It seems I do most of my reading electronically these days anyway, so why not add to it? Maybe I'll actually read more novels.
Still, I love old-fashioned books. Digging through a box at home and finding a book is like finding an old friend. Wandering through a bookstore and imagining all the possibilities contained within is staggering. Sometimes I don't know where to begin and it's wonderful! Opening an old book and catching that scent of history and place... The eager excitement that accompanies the sound of opening a brand new book for the first time... Getting lost in the library as I search for that perfect book to fit my mood... I love books. Are they more than the mere words and stories they contain?
Today I got lost in a different sort of library - a library of the 21st century. It certainly wasn't the same, but it was compelling none the less. I visited Project Gutenberg, an online collection of free e-books. I found many books I already knew from Shakespeare to Dickens to Thoreau to Twain... all free. To have these at my fingertips - very appealing. Still most I already own on paper. I know there must be a wealth of new gems to be discovered, but something was missing. For lack of a better word I'll call it presence. The site while containing some great stuff looked boring. The words and the stories were there, but that something extra was missing. I liked the site, I bookmarked the site, and I'll be back. Yet in its present form it cannot replace my love of an old-fashioned book. Maybe someday, but not today.
Eyes to the skies! You'll be amazed by what you see!! AstroChick.
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Goodness! Another blogger I will have to check on regularly!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on joining the Blogosphere! (I have yet to do so myself, at least as a blogger.)
I am a bit skeptical about electronic books. For one thing, I don't see them as being as convenient (for reading) as regular books, nor as having anywhere near the same persistence. Printed books that are a couple of hundred years old are not at all uncommon. How many functioning Kindles, iPads, PDAs, etc. will there be two hundred years hence? Also, the Kindle has the wonderful property -- so I understand -- that the manufacturer can remotely remove any books it decides you should not have. I find that scary.... Rich