This topic has made its rounds on the book blogs. So, that means it's a big deal, people.
And... I'm not sure how I feel about this whole futuristic machine thingy. Frankly, it makes me think of robots... and I don't like robots. [Has Terminator taught us nothing?]
But, there are some things that we need to consider. On one hand, I hate lugging my books around campus (damn you Norton Anthology!), so Kindle looks like a hottie in a mini-black dress in comparison. I also don't have money, so Google Books looks free, therefore awesome in comparison.
However, I can't forget that each book has its own feel with its own special pages. There is nothing more satisfying than turning a page and seeing your physical progress. Or putting the book down after reading it. It feels like such an accomplishment! [Yay literacy!]
I think my favorites Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell said it best: Ain't nothin' like the real thing.
And since they sing that phrase with such conviction and great harmony, I think I will stick with the real thing:
I think the world is dividing into those who are really excited about kindle and those that want to lug books. there is, as you know, lots of discussion about the tactile experience of reading. Of 'owning' the text, even if you are only borrowing the book. In addition, some of us don't think reading dense text works on the screen. I guess i don't condemn people who prefer kindle, but I do object to being lectured by them.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is, right on sister! It warms the cockles of my heart to hear a Millenial extol the virtues of the book. having said that, I think the Kindle/iphone/sony devices have a great place in delivering information of a more timely nature, particularly newspapers, periodicals, and web based publications. The jury is out on textbooks I think.
ReplyDeleteI am investigating loading student text books for a whole year on to kindles and in my investigation of this project, I discovered that one dental school in Texas requires its students to purchase a laptop that is preloaded with all the textbooks the student will use throughout their entire course of study. When asked how the young woman liked that approach, the response was "she just prints out whatever it is she is studying at the time". So, all the media hype aside, we still live in a diverse format environment, and I believe we will be for some time in the future.
That is the end game. Sounds like all the students in the world, when they REALLY WANT THE TEXT they print it out. I wonder if there isn't some hardwiring in the brain on it.
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