Ahhh...delphiniums. So pretty, and I LOVE that you see them poking up on the sides of the road, with the foxgloves. Not weeds to me!Thought about getting a Kindle, an iPad, or a nook over the last year. Debated back and forth many times about switching to the digital age with my reading fetish. I love my computer, I love the Internet, and I love technology. (Oh- Napoleon Dynamite. I can never say that sentence without grinning thanks to Kip.) But would I love holding a little "pad" instead of the glorious feel of paper and the sound of pages turning? Then again, wouldn't I love having a THOUSAND books at my fingertips, at any moment? Then I read the following excerpt and decided- for now- I'm sticking with my paper and ink books. How many books can I read at once anyways, right? :) All the reasons why a real book...will always be wonderful.
"...as a device for reading, the book retains some compelling advantages over the computer. You can take a book to the beach without worrying about sand getting in its works. You can take it to bed without being nervous about it falling to the floor should you nod off. You can spill coffee on it. You can sit on it. You can put it down on a table, open to the page you’re reading, and when you pick it up a few days later it will still be exactly as you left it. You never have to be concerned about plugging a book into an outlet or having its battery die.
The experience of reading tends to be better with a book too. Words stamped on a page in black ink are easier to read than words formed of pixels on a back lit screen. You can read a dozen or a hundred printed pages without suffering from the eye fatigue that often results from even a brief stretch of online reading. Navigating a book is simpler and, as software programmers say, more intuitive. You can flip through real pages much more quickly and flexibly than you can through virtual pages. And you can write notes in a book’s margins or highlight passages that move or inspire you. You can even get a book’s author to sign its title page. When you’re finished with a book, you can use it to fill an empty space on your bookshelf—or lend it to a friend." -Nicholas Carr from The Shallows
2 comments:
I completely understand about some of the things said in this excerpt. However, when you are reading something like "Breaking Dawn" which is about 4 inches thick, that doesn't fit in your purse. And when you take your book to the beach and you have more time to read than you thought , you can buy another one at the touch of a button. When you ask your friend of an inspiring read at 11pm, you can start reading immediately. Kindle has no back lit screen and is not hard on your eyes like a computer is. I can read my books on my iPhone if I forgot my kindle as there is an app for that. I know some people just like a good old book , but really whatever makes you read I think. When I would have read but 1 book, I've read 10 on my kindle simply because of convenience. Just my 2 cents.
Well said. I suppose that is one of my pros- the convenience. But then- you don't know the size of my purse. :) I have 3 right now! Not to mention my 4 volume CS Lewis collection- it is fairly weighty, but it gives me 4 classics at my fingertips and a wonderful weapon against creepers in the parking lot. You DON'T want me to whack you with this bag! :)
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