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In addition I can read new works by struggling unpublished authors for as little as 99p.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.
1 comment:
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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