My sister recently invested in the Kindle, and for the longest time she was debating it. I understand her plight, because we are both book lovers who travel, and carrying around books is annoying. I completely relate to the draw of electronic books, having embraced technology with my lovely iPhone. Being able to buy a book anytime you want, downloading it automatically, and storing all of them in one convenient space, where they are at your fingertips anytime.
But I will resist the temptation to enter the electronic book fad, mostly because my relationship with books has been incredibly sentimental. Books are my friends, I develop feelings for them, take them everywhere with me, often fall asleep with my arms around them, and wake up excited to delve into them.
I hug my books.
I dog-ear the pages, and re-read my favorites over and over. I gift books to those I love, passing my strong emotional bond to another person, hoping they find it as touching as I do. I judge people on the metro, at airport terminals, on the bus, by the books they are reading. When impatient, I skip to the end of the book to see how it ends. I like the feel of the pages in between my fingers and find comfort in the black ink on the page.
So when it comes to books (and newspapers, and magazines), I am traditional. Having it electronic feels cold, impersonal and just not my style. Bring on the paper.
first signs of getting old… i had a hard time accepting CD’s and am still nostalgic about my vinyls
I have to say that I LOVE my Kindle! It comes EVERYWHERE with me. I brought it to an art gallery opening last night (my host insisted on it), and all the Brazilians were more interested in examining the Kindle than the poor ceramics they were meant to be staring at. You can mark pages, highlight passages, take notes, and fall asleep slobbering all over it…not that i have any experience slobbering or anything…
Vinyls Pedram?! How old are you?
Nav – am glad you like it, but your story about the kindle and the art gallery really just proves my theory about how we are becoming more isolated in our social scenes. It reminds me of Wall-e and it makes me sad.
There is something to be said about carrying a book and having a conversation with someone about it. It is not very romantic emailing someone a pdf of a book you read on your kindle.
Pedram — I felt the need to describe the Kindle to people who are too old to know it. Maybe you should explain vinyls to everyone else who are too young to understand.
The ONLY thing I’m suspicious about – in my old age – is the name kindle. To me, it’s like they’re subversively telling you to go and burn all your books.
(Kindle; to start a fire.)
Barns, that is totally creepy. So Fahrenheit 451
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