...because hey, history.
Let
me first state that I do own an E-reader. I have a Barnes and Noble Nook, 1st Edition and on its second battery life. Now that that is out of the
way we can begin.
What is an E-reader? Most people know but lets clarify it. An E-reader is an electronic device used to read text, books or magazines. There are the two big sellers, Barnes and Noble's Nook and Amazon's Kindle, as well as some off brand E-readers.
E-readers
are great if you travel a lot, if you’re not a big reader –and don’t want to
have shelves of books that will just sit there gathering dust – or if your book
shelf is too full and you need to put books elsewhere. In my case I was the third. I have over nine hundred books (900!) and
space is a big issue. I also bought an
E-reader – a Barnes and Noble Nook – to buy a novella to a series I was reading
that was only in EBook format. I could
read in-between classes, or on a trip, and the E-reader helped save space in my
bag.
However,
Stephan King* made a good point when he explained that you could drop a book in
the toilet, fish it out to let it dry and keep reading it. Whereas an E-reader would be completely
destroyed; ten to a hundred books get ruined in a flash. I agree, I would feel more comfortable
replacing a twenty dollar book than a $150 + E-reader with $0.99 to $9.99 priced
books.
For
some people there is a nostalgia feeling when holding a hardcopy book (hardcover
or paperback). Perhaps your family owns
a rare copy of Gone with the Wind or To Kill a Mocking Bird and reading it
makes you think of those who read it before you. Whatever the reason may be it
doesn’t mean that E-readers are bad.
Personally,
since I do have an E-reader, I don’t think electronic books are bad. It’s easier for people to obtain, it gets
them reading and it saves paper. Does
that mean I’ll convert all my books into EBooks and sell/burn the rest? NO! Do
I still buy hardcopies vs. EBooks? Yes,
and that is based out of habit. To me
there is something fun (again with the nostalgia) about going to the store and
looking for a book. Picking it up, flipping through the pages and yes even
smelling it.
Only
time can tell if E-readers will replace hardcopy books but you know what? It’s okay. And why is that? History.
The
Library of Alexandia existed around 285 B.C. in ancient Egypt. Organized by one of Aristotle’s students, it
had gardens, meeting rooms, dining halls, lecture rooms, and in the main part
of the library – and this is a rumor but hey…rumors – above the shelves the
phrase “The Place of the Cure of the Soul” was written. Now, the point, all the
books were written in papyri scrolls.
Many people would bring books to the library to have them copied down
and added to the library. And since it was so busy (copying, growing,
rearranging) there was no catalog kept of the books in there.
At
that time Egypt was ruled by Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy. And the two siblings were always beating
heads. Well Rome sent an army lead by
Julius Caesar to calm power-hungry Ptolemy down and to regulate the country. Caesar and Ptolemy got into a fight and it
ended with Caesar setting Ptolemy’s boats and docks on fire. Unfortunately, the library was caught in the
fire’s path and…yeah, it’s gone.
So
what’s the point of this history lesson?
There are books that we’ll never see again. Stories we’ll never get to read and
philosophical insights that we’ll never get back. E-readers may help save records – yes they
can still be destroyed with the click of a button – and in the right hands with
multiple copies they’ll hold more information, and be there for future
generations.
The
original books were spoken orally, and then written on papyri in scrolls and
now on paper. While I still prefer a
hardcopy book to the EBook, I do respect the ability to try and preserve
stories and text for the future.
*Stephen King give his opinon on E-readers and Ebooks in this video on Youtube.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ELlianFnL0
No comments:
Post a Comment