with all of the news this week about amazon’s new kindle fire and the subsequent articles about the demise of books + the rise of ereaders, it makes me want to hop off-line and do this:
i know that it’s a bit juvenile and not all that smart considering i work in publishing, but still, for the moment, i’d like to remain ignorant about all the changes that are swirling and building and lining up. i’d like to close my eyes and savor the less technologically advanced sides of my life: picnics outside, a child’s laughter, napping, catching up with a friend over a coffee/glass of wine/pint of beer, writing (and receiving) letters in the mail, reading a book.
before i go, tell me: do you have an e-reader? which one? do you love it? why? do you like physical books better? why?
or, if you prefer, tell me what’s your favorite non-technological thing to do?
*hops off-line.*
Abigail Mumford 
I love this post! I do have an ereader and it was really useful whilst I was at uni and couldn’t afford to buy all of my reading lists in physical form. But now that I’ve graduated and I have (slightly) more money my ereader is gathering dust, I’d much much rather buy real books. I can’t imagine my bedroom without my bookshelves in it, it’d be so lonely and impersonal.
I also miss handwriting. I bought myself a fountain pen as a graduation present in a silent protest against all correspondence now being of the electronic variety, there’s nothing like getting a letter in the post.
ah ha! i always thought an ereader made the most sense for college kids because textbooks are heavy and pricey and it’d be nice not to have to lug all those books around. however — you can’t return the ebooks like you can with their physical counterparts, right? although, i suppose if the original list price was less, it balances out with the cost of buying/returning the physical book.
a fountain pen?!?! now that is romantic.
Psh. You know me. Books=Life I’m pretty sure I only have a kindle cause it was a present (from you :)) and while I love! the cheaper prices, it will never compare to a real book. *sigh* can I go back to Powells? I could totally live in there
it was a present from all your siblings and i still stand by my claim that i’m shocked you don’t like it more. you live in a dorm room! you travel for lax! you read ALL THE TIME! you grew up with technology; it doesn’t scare you! you can carry a trillion books in the device that’s lighter than a paperback book!
but fine, you’re a purist like me. it’s cool. like books. they’re cool.
I like how your entire post was about going back to your roots and stepping away from technology, and you still pressure me to like the kindle more ;)
i’m a walking, talking hypocrite.
I LOVE that picture. It’s exactly how I feel about books. :)
I do have a Kindle, and I admit I love the convenience of it. It’s easy to read on, and so light. For travel, there’s nothing better — you can carry a whole library with you. But nothing will ever completely replace paper for me.
that picture has made the rounds, yes, but it makes me smile every single time i see it because it truly is how i feel about books.
i’m actually borrowing sister E’s kindle for a month or so. i’m trying to get acquainted with it because i feel like i should try to join the 21st century (and learn more about my workplace in the meantime) before i’m left in the dust.
I love that picture!
The thought of getting an ereader sickens me a little bit. I love books! I love holding books, smelling them, fingering the pages, folding the corners, flagging them with colored post-its, using bookmarks… And I love bookshelves and messy stacks and piles of books with cracked spines and coffee stains and torn covers… A bookshelf has a history that an ereader does not. I believe a book is more than just the words it’s made of. So I’m not giving up yet!
“a bookshelf has a history that an ereader does not. i believe a book is more than just the words it’s made of.” this is a little bit of poetry right here. and you just made me fall in love with books all over again.
yes, i have an ereader. it’s called a novel (i just love that it’s called that, btw) and it’s like a cross between and nook and an ipad (doesn’t have as many features as the ipad but definitely more than the nook) and i love it! i love the ease with which it is to read, how great it is to ‘go to the bookstore’ and not leave my house. but there are down sides, like when you pre-order an ebook, but then the publisher releases the hardcopy early. i don’t like it when that happeneds….and then there are just some books that i have to have in hard copy, because i have all that author’s books sitting on my shelf and i can’t split them up, it’d be like tearing a family apart. yes, i know that sounds weird, but that’s me…and apparently i ramble. who knew? :)
it’s called a novel? that’s kind of confusing, but yet also kind of awesome and, not that it means anything, but i’ve never heard of it. but i totally hear you on the needing to have all of an author’s books on your shelves. it completes the family and you know i’m all in support of family!
you seem to have a nice balance going on. well played.
i have 4 e-readers: my laptop, ipad, nook, phone. and i have shelves and shelves of books. i love e-books and bound books equally. i find it easier to read from my e-reader when i’m commuting and traveling but i love paperbacks when i’m lying in bed. love the weight of doorstoppers. i’m insanely sentimental about old books. but i guess i see this e-book “revolution” less as a threat to literature/the book business/etc than as a way to make it even easier for books to reach their readers.
that said, i CHERISH the time way from anything with a screen (I say this as I type from my laptop, the tv blaring in the background). animals are my people, so to speak. and food. and pretty places and being outside and the beach etc etc etc
Wow. You’re both retro and modern, you with all the books and ereaders! And I LOVE your comments about ereaders broadening audiences instead of shrinking publishers. Thank.you.
I do have an e-reader and I love it. (Kindle 2) But I have to admit when they first came out I resisted. Me the original Gadget Girl. Mainly because reading is something that I shared with my Grandmother and love of words is something we most definitely had in common. Plus I just love the look of them. Everywhere.
I told myself I would never give up my beloved books. How could I? That was the last link I had to the women who had shaped and guided me. Then I realized my e-reader didn’t mean I was giving anything up. Do I miss the feel of the paper between my fingers? Yes, yes I do. But I have to be honest. The fact that I can make the fonts bigger made me a believer and had me wishing these had been around as my Gram advanced in age and was no longer able to read the small print because her eye site had become so bad. If they had, she would never have had to end her life long love affair with the written word. Sometimes embracing new things can be good.
so far, the two main benefits i’m hearing are the font enlargement and the massive number of books you can carry with you in such a light package. i’ve been blessed with good eyesight, and don’t travel too too often that i mind carrying a couple of books with me.
i am borrowing sister E’s kindle for the time being, so i’m definitely giving this a whirl, but for some reason, i really can’t get over the percentage thing that tells you how much you have left. it does not compare to looking a book as a whole and seeing just how much ground you’ve covered. plus, i tend to need to re-read parts and flipping back through the kindle isn’t as easy breezy as flipping back through a book. BUT i’m trying to embrace change. i just happen to be a slow embracer… or…. yeah.