luddites unite
call me a luddite, but i cannot wrap my head around buying an electronic book. i am fine with reading my newspapers online and watching "lost" in HD in front of my imac the day after it airs, but i cannot and will not purchase a kindle or any other e-book device (including the app on a future-owned iphone).
there is something about how a book smells, brand new, old and musty, library smell. curling up with a good book does not mean pushing plastic buttons or flicking a screen. it means having the tactile sensation of the paper between your fingers, flipping through to different parts with your finger marking page 113, feeling the smoothness of the covers, embossed titles, glossy varnish on photos (can you tell i work at a printer?). oh yes, the kindle can hold up to a billion books with a billion more at the touch of a button, but how many books can a person read while on vacation for a week in cancun? certainly I am not going to need another suitcase for my books.
there is something about a multitude of books lining a shelf or shelves in one’s home. call it pretentious, but when i see shelves and shelves of books in a home, i know i’ve met someone i am on par with (unless it’s shelves and shelves of romance novels, haha). reading is a simple and quick way to expand knowledge and vocabulary.
there is something about anticipating a book. i have a stack of 5 books i bought from goodwill that i am slowly but surely getting through. everytime i see the stack, i get a little jolt of excitement about what’s to come. i really really doubt i would get the same jolt from seeing a kindle sitting on the coffee table.
there is something about this technology that i just can’t accept. i will take an HD tv, my imac, the ps3, my awesome digital camera, the interwebs and more, but i won’t take the kindle. i’m a book luddite, through and through.