Day 8: 01:00 Is The Perfect Time To Muse About
The ebook v. physical book debate. I’d spoken with someone yesterday about Kindle fun, and again this evening with one of my friends, so I’ve been mulling over the hubbub once more. The first couple of times someone told me “I just love the feel of a book in my hands” I agreed, touching a nearby hardcover for reassurance. Now when someone utters these words I have to stop myself from dealing out an exaggerated eye-roll.
I’m sure that I’m saying this as a person who owns 200+ books and has had to move them 5+ times, knowing that a fair number of them I am unlikely to read[again], and have very certainly wasted my money on, and can barely be bothered to take them someplace resale-related. But keeping in mind I’m also saying this as an avid-reader, a true fan of the physical book, and recognize that what it really comes down to is personal preference as everyone has their reasons for choosing one (physical/ebook) over another.
Let’s step over to the realistic corner for a moment. In the realistic corner we can rationalize that considering the books you’ve read over a lifetime, there are a very small percentage of that whole you will consider “take to the grave” texts. Say you’re fleeing the country– no, better yet, say that it’s the literal world of Equilibrium/1984. Books are being burned left and right. The authorities are on their way to your home to set your shit on fire and you have a choice: grab your favs and risk corporal punishment death by shoving a select few into your hidey-hole, or be done with the lot of it and go outside with your (empty) hands out.
I’m looking at 1 of my shelves of a 100, and *maybe* 9 of those would make it into that hidey-hole. And of those 9, 3 of them are part of a series likely gathered into a handy omnibus somewhere else on the planet. The remaining 91 are books that I would totally read again if the mood struck me (which is why I have them), but if I came down to shedding a stack of literary pounds, the 91 would make up the weight.
Anyway, I suppose my initial reaction to the “feel of a book” comment pertains more to the notion of practicality. E-book carriers are convenient and a natural step in the evolution of the written word, and “writing them off” BECAUSE of a tactile preoccupation (if it really IS the feel of the book that floats your boat, and not the image or status that comes with holding one in your hand, which is not a bad thing so long as you admit it!) is just crazypants.
Yes, I said it. Crazypants. Write down.
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