I’m told books are a thing of the past. If that’s the case I’m a dinosaur because as I write I’m surrounded by literally thousands of the things. I love books, I love the way they feel. I even love the smell of new books. When my grandmother died I inherited all her books, some are items of considerable value and beauty, encased in hand tooled leather and embossed with gold leaf.
The thought of having all my books consigned to a Kindle makes me shiver. I can see that if you are going away for a long holiday they will cut down on the weight you have to carry, but other than that I can’t see e-books have much going for them. I’m told it's easier to append notes with an e-book although I can’t imagine it being quicker than my system of little yellow ‘post-it’ squares.
One of my worries about e-books are the people who constantly seek more and more draconian copyright laws. I’m told one purveyor of e-books has included software which automatically deletes your book when you’ve read it, or try to transfer it to another device – in case you pass it on to somebody else. My family are very book orientated and hardly a visit goes by without someone landing with an armful of books I really must read.
And here’s the rub with e-books. You don’t actually own them like you do a physical book. If you were to die, technically you can’t pass e-books on like my grandmother did her books to me. According to copyright laws you are effectively renting a book for your lifetime only. Even sharing passwords is expressly forbidden and in the case of Apple could mean your account is terminated.
As I write I have a large book on my desk of the recent BBC series of The Frozen Planet it has some truly stunning plates. I can’t really imagine that on a Kindle.
No I think I’ll be a Luddite and stick with my books. I’ve bought them and they are mine and that’s it!
8 comments:
not here either...love my books, and all the adorable bookmarkers friends and family have given me throught the years.....xoxo
I admit that I just like having my books even if I spend most of my time just looking at them on their shelves.
I admit that I just like having my books even if I spend most of my time just looking at them on their shelves.
I have a reader for travelling - it means I can take a library with me but nothing beats the feel of a real book. I also like the fact that with a real book I can turn back so easily and re-read the bit I might have misunderstood!
I do too Judy. In fact in many ways books are me!"
I must confess I'm a book girl too.
I have a nook and use it mostly for playing sudoku, angry birds or surfing the web with the occasional read of a downloaded book. Won't buy a kindle (or anything from amazon thank you). I likewise have a number of shelves filled with books.
OOPs sorry wrong post
In defence of the E Book
I am a reader; I like to read the written word, to let my imagination take flight, to lose myself in the words that the written word conjures up for me. I don’t care if those words are written on newsprint, bound in leather with gold embossed titles or displayed with E-Ink on a sheet of crystal. I just want to read..
My Kindle not only provides me with a collection of novels, reference books and my favourite anthology of English poetry which I can dip in and out of at various times during the day, I can also log onto my favourite newspaper courtesy of Amazons free Whispernet technology, read and send emails, listen to a Beethoven symphony while I read and when my eyesight finally gives way it will read the book for me.
I can convert any word document into a format that can be stored on the Kindle for me to read at my leisure. All of which are archived on my account at Amazon, so should I lose my kindle or replace it I can download all my books and documents at no charge. They are mine forever.
As to the feel of a book, my ultra slim kindle is housed within a leather case, which gives it the tactile feel of a real book. Frankly the smell of musty old books gets up my nose.
Last year I was given a 900-page novel in hardback. Oh what “Joy” to lay in bed struggling to stop the pages from turning before I had read them and my wrists aching to just hold the darn thing upright and as for popping it in my handbag to read at work or when travelling, forget it. Yes you cant stick a post it note on it but I am not the sort to carry a pad of post it notes around with me wherever I go besides the little bookmark thingy is brilliant..
As if that were not enough to persuade you then coming across that strange word that you just wished you were carrying around the OED then the built in English or American dictionary is just a click away.
In addition I can read new works by struggling unpublished authors for as little as 99p.
Amazons best selling book of 2011 was by an unknown author who the big publishing houses would not touch, he sold 250,000 copies via Amazon each for 99p and now has the same publishing houses scrambling to sign him.
Yes they will never supplant the “coffee table” books of art or photography but to me I buy books to READ. saffons grandmother’s books are for admiring, not for reading.
So I will leave the Luddites firmly rooted in the 19th century where they belong and I will embrace the 21st century and all the wonderful technological changes that are in store.
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