Bibliophibians and Kindling
Bibliophibians—those of us who live partly in the world and partly in books—are divided on the issue of ebooks, those handheld gadgets which allow you to read entire books on their screens. The usual bibliophibian argument against e-books, apart from the fact that they’re hard on the eyes, is that they do not give you the full experience of reading.
There are two main components to the reading experience: the book as a physical object, and the book as a portal that transports you to another place and time. There’s your physical relationship to the book, and your mental relationship to the words.
The argument against ebooks has to do mostly with the physical part. With a book, you hold the entire text in your hands so you get a sense of the whole. You feel the weight of the printed matter, you smell the ink and paper, and you flip through the pages with ease. It is, how shall I put this, sexier. With an ebook, the whole is broken down into accessible bits: you only see a portion of text at a time. You’re holding cold, lifeless plastic and metal. You don’t flip the pages, you scroll down. We won’t even start on what your library would look like. . .
Emotional Weather Report today in the Star.
Meanwhile, With Kindle, Can You Tell It’s Proust? in the NYT.
It’s just occurred to me: If people read Kindles instead of books with cover art, I won’t know what they’re reading so I can’t judge them. Hmmm.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
April 27th, 2009 at 03:22
“If people read Kindles instead of books with cover art, I won’t know what they’re reading so I can’t judge them.”
LOL. I’m sure that’s what every anti-Kindle bibliophile thinks but refuses to say out loud.
“We won’t even start on what your library would look like. . .”
I agree wholeheartedly. That’s why, if I ever do jump on the ebook bandwagon, I’ll probably spend more money because I’ll buy the electronic AND “real” versions of the books I really like.
April 27th, 2009 at 07:39
The book was a mature technology when it was born. There’s no need to tweak it. Prost for Gutenberg!
April 27th, 2009 at 12:32
Shucks, this is also how I feel about music albums. The art of the album cover, the liner notes, feeling the CD/vinyl in your hands that contains a person’s solid work for a period of time.
But I guess it’s too late to turn that back. Virgin Megastores are gone, Tower Records gone too, and you’ll have to buy an actual CD/album from a fringe specialty store. (No more browsing?!)
Hopefully, books will survive this, for all the reasons you stated.
April 28th, 2009 at 01:40
i prefer the physical book. i have downloaded tons of e-books for academic purposes and leisure reading (haven’t fully read one), but they’re a pain in the…. eyes. feels different. with paperbacks, you could toss and turn with them, and they age with you..
April 30th, 2009 at 07:47
I own a Kindle 2 and I’m very proud of it. I don’t understand this “snobbish” view that bibliophiles HAVE to hold a book in their hand, touch it, feels the pages, etc. Having the Kindle makes it easier for me to read the books I’ve always wanted to read, without having to lug several pounds of books around, and the ability to download it directly to the device without going to the bookstore to look for it is awesome. Think of how much it’s saving the environment! It diminishes the murder of trees just to make your precious books! Plus, it decreases your carbon footprint because you don’t have to get in your car to go to the bookstore to buy books! It’s a win win situation for Mother Earth.
May 23rd, 2009 at 13:37
I am very open to the idea. I may not have the money to buy the reader just yet (since it is outrageously expensive!) but I would appreciate it just to prevent my back from misalignment as caused by carrying heavy things (like books) in my bag. We would also save a lot of trees.
However, I would have to agree with the others that nothing compares with the experience that comes when you are reading the organic material. It is just different. As Jessica described it, it’s more sexy. Hehehe You feel and smell the pages. Plus, you can boast to anyone discreetly that you are an intellect by carrying a book, more aided by the title and the author on its beautiful cover.
In the end, what we really want is for people to read. I seriously think that this is the main objective of this issue. Innovations are made to help everyone get interested in reading. I don’t care what happens next as long as the objective is met. Educating the world is a colossal effort and we direly need any help we can get.