Call Me Old Fashioned…
There is a culture surrounding traditional books that I enjoy being a part of. It’s exciting to hold a used book in my hands and consider its journey through other readers before reaching me. I enjoy selling used books or passing them on to friends, knowing I’m participating in a community that keeps a story alive. Bookshelves can be an intimate glance into someone’s life. It is comforting to pick up a beloved novel on a rainy day to pass the time. The scent of pages in a library or used bookstore immediately relaxes me and encourages me to slow down, to take a break from my hectic life, and just browse. There is a tactile experience that I enjoy with books as much as the reading itself. So it is with mild discomfort that I watch the growing trend of reading devices and e-publishing.
Danny Bloom interviewed Dr. Anne Mangen, a reading specialist at the National Centre for Reading Research and Education at Stavanger University in Norway. She published a paper regarding the differences between reading on paper and reading on screen. Now I haven’t read her article. And I’m not at all interested in getting into the physiological specifics of the process of reading – at least not right now. But within the comments on this topic, one in particular caught my eye:
“Reading on an e-ink device may *be* ‘reading on a screen’; but it doesn’t *feel* like it. Why else would I have kept reaching with my left hand to the upper-right corner of my device to try to turn the page, when it was new? I’ve also heard reports of people reaching for their bookmarks when they were knocking off for the night.”
That’s fine but I think I would MISS the feel of paper, the sound of pages turning, the weight of a book. Call me old fashioned but a friend handing me a novel they enjoyed means more than someone saying “Hey, download this file.”
Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not a techno-phobe. And I can certainly see the occasional advantage to an e-reader. We’re traveling in June but are limiting our luggage to carry on bags. I’m already trying to plan what I absolutely have to pack in order to make room for books. A single small device instead of several larger books would make a big difference. But that’s the only situation that I can possibly imagine more convenience over traditional books. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t consider it a nuisance to carry a book with me (for example) to the doctor’s office. E-readers DO have the benefit of instant gratification. And while I DO tend to be rather impatient, even that isn’t enough to sway me. When I think of a future without traditional books I imagine what John Spartan (Demolition Man) must have felt like when waking up in the futuristic LA. It’s so…sterile. Impersonal. A special element in missing.
What do YOU think?
Category pop culture | Tags:
