Ever since the advent of the Kindle and other comparable e-book reading devices there has been debate over whether this latest greatest technological wonder is sounding the death knell for physical, hard copy books. It’s been argued passionately on both sides, and I know I’m a little late jumping into the fray, but I’d like to get my opinion out there anyway.
I don’t believe electronic reading gadgets will ever render books completely obsolete. Books have a more personal quality that can’t be translated to a screen and buttons. A certain copy of a book can travel with you throughout your life and end up with all sorts of things in it – notes, phone numbers, underlined passages (you can’t underline a Kindle), dog-eared pages (I’m a bit of an agnostic on the whole “to-dog-ear-or-not-to-dog-ear” debate), etc. You can put bookplates in them! You can write inscriptions in books given as gifts!
Sentimental value aside, there are several technological advantages in favor of physical books that I can think of when it comes to book vs. book reading gadget.
I don’t believe electronic reading gadgets will ever render books completely obsolete. Books have a more personal quality that can’t be translated to a screen and buttons. A certain copy of a book can travel with you throughout your life and end up with all sorts of things in it – notes, phone numbers, underlined passages (you can’t underline a Kindle), dog-eared pages (I’m a bit of an agnostic on the whole “to-dog-ear-or-not-to-dog-ear” debate), etc. You can put bookplates in them! You can write inscriptions in books given as gifts!
Sentimental value aside, there are several technological advantages in favor of physical books that I can think of when it comes to book vs. book reading gadget.
- Books don’t require batteries. You have no worries about charging or replacing anything. A book is ready to go whenever you are.
- If you drop a book, it’s not going to automatically set you back substantial amounts of money.
- Once you buy a book, it’s yours. Period. You don’t have to worry about the bookstore suddenly realizing it sold you an unauthorized copy of the book and taking it back with no heads up or explanation *cough*Amazon 1984/Animal Farm debacle*cough*
- Visually inclined books (art, photography, other miscellaneous coffee table books) just don’t translate very well to a six inch screen.
Despite the advantages I can see the Kindle having (portability, convenience, indefinable “cool” factor, instant access to hundreds of books), in my professional opinion it’s no inherent threat to the long term viability of the physical book. After all, who wants to curl up with a cup of coffee and a screen on a rainy day?
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