I love books. They offer escapes, transporting readers into new and different worlds and providing abundant information that carries through generations.
While I understand the convenience factor of electronic readers, I nevertheless believe that the true experience of reading must involve a physical book, with pages that can be felt and flipped. I also prefer hard-bound books, especially those bound with materials now used almost exclusively for special editions.
Books should, I believe, offer a respite from our technology-filled lives. So, while I do support the growing trend of electronic publishing, I also affirm that print publishing should not be swept aside and left behind.
Haha! We started our flash posts today with exactly the same words. And our thoughts were pretty similar. So cool! :D
ReplyDeleteVery nice! Glad we agree, haha.
DeleteWhile I still enjoy a paper book, I can't give up my e-reader. It has provided me with many books in one small, light device that doesn't strain my eyes. I will never get rid of all my books, but I think my physical collection will grow much more slowly now.
ReplyDeleteI think e-readers are great, kind of like a replacement for library books, i.e. books that you read just once, or maybe you'll take a look at it again a few years from now. To me, though, nothing can replace walls covered in bookshelves filled with quality texts that can be pulled out at any moment when you want to curl up and revisit a story you loved. You get to know your personal library a very different way when they're books on a shelf than when they're documents on an e-reader.
DeleteI love to read a real book, I love your post it says everything I think about books..
ReplyDeletehttp://dawn-hart.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/day-four-books-blogflash3013.html
Thanks, Dawn.
DeleteI, too, love real books. I also love my Kindle. I think it's like what happened to music. My sons download all kinds of music on their iPods: Sinatra, Celtic, Dropkick Murphy, Gregorian chants, classical... Most of this music they would never have been exposed to without inexpensive download capability. Books are the same. If you can download it for free, wouldn't you be more willing to try a new genre? a new author? I think it will mean a tremendous growth in the amount of reading as well as the diversity of reading.
ReplyDeleteLinda Ulleseit
http://ulleseit.wordpress.com
http://flyinghorsebooks.wordpress.com
Hi Linda,
DeleteI agree that there is value in an e-reader in disseminating more books to more people (who can afford an e-reader), but then again, we do have libraries, which similarly allow us to try a new genre or a new author for free.
I think e-readers will also become more valuable when digital rights are worked out differently: I can lend a book to a friend, but in order to lend an e-book, I would have to lend an entire e-reader – that is, technically, my entire electronic library. In that way and others, I think our relationships with books are different than with e-books, for both good and bad.
Thanks for the comment!