Why I Refuse to Buy My Son a Kindle
By Glinda
Or any other type of e-reader, for that matter.
Because I am a curmudgeon? Quite possibly.
Because I am a Luddite? Or technophobe? Hardly.
I think it is because there is just something so wonderful and tangible about holding a new book in your hands. The feel of the cover, the crispness of the pages, the actual turning of the pages and the particular noise that makes.
Reading is such an immediate and personal act, and not teaching my son about the intimacy of a reading a book seems wrong.
Let’s face it, by the time he is in high school (or sooner) the bulk of reading will probably be done on e-readers. I get the pros of an e-reader, I really do. You can store many more books than you could carry in a backpack or luggage. Not to mention not having to store a bunch of books in your home that take up space. Although personally, I love having books in my home. Plus, it’s probably harder to lose an e-reader than a book, although I have no first-hand knowledge of this. And, I’m going to guess that an e-reader is better for the environment overall. Insert large sigh here.
So I’m just trying to hold out as long as I can against the technological tide that is surely turning against me. I’m sure that eventually books will go the way of newspapers, which is to say waning readership of an actual newspaper, but tons of online readers.
Pretty soon I’ll be babbling about how telephones used to have circular dials and long cords attached to them, as well as how we used to have to get up to turn the television station.
Oh right, I already do that.
Fine, curmudgeon it is.
December 31st, 2010 at 9:13 am
I’m with you Glinda. I love the feel of an actual book in my hands. I love most tech type things, but I have been steadfastly refusing to get an e-reader of any sort.
December 31st, 2010 at 10:14 am
Plus if he loses a book, he loses just one book. If he loses a kindle, he loses every single book you bought and downloaded, plus the expensive kindle.
December 31st, 2010 at 11:25 am
Losing the books is not an issue – they can be redownloaded at will to any of your devices. I, however, do prefer physical books. It’s not just their physical feel when reading them, it’s the way they look when you have shelf after shelf filled with them. I realized not long ago that the bathroom is the only room in our house without a bookshelf.
Besides, long-term data storage is very much an issue. We don’t yet have electronic storage that will reliably last decades or centuries – it has to be retransferred to new media every now and then. Books, when properly cared for, can outlast civilizations.
January 1st, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Ah, I was not aware of that feature.
I do not care to own books, probably because I have moved so many times and most of those moves have been at my own expense. Books are heavy and a pain in the neck to transport.
I do, however, encourage others to buy books, especially my library.