Ever since I was young, my favorite thing to do wasn’t playing with Barbies or dressing up as a princess. Instead, I loved to read.
I remember every summer going to the library and feeling excitement from filling out the summer reading list. I’d go through two books a day.
As I’ve grown up, however, so has technology.
One of the more recent devices may quite possibly be one of the worst things to happen to literature since burning books.
I’m talking about eBooks.
There’s nothing like curling up on a couch, sipping on some hot cocoa next to a warm fire and pulling out a good — eBook. Doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as nicely, does it?
According to a recent article by Sara Yirrell from www.channelweb.co.uk, Kindle eBooks are outselling paperbacks, with 115 eBooks being sold for every 100 paperback books.
What a world indeed.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not opposed to technology. I’m just opposed to eBooks.
As technology changes, so will the younger generations. They will become accustomed to pulling out their eBook for a bedtime read. Even now, books can be accessed on cell phones.
For me, real books provide an ownership that readers can’t get out of an eBook.
There’s no easy option to lending an eBook — unless a person plans on never seeing it again.
Also, a paperback allows easy access to finding reference points by simply flipping through the pages. With the eBook and the ability to change text size and shape, it becomes more difficult to cite a passage.
Not to mention those screens start to cause strain on the eyes.
Pretty soon, libraries and bookshops will start closing more and more often. I used to be able to spend hours on end just reading in Barnes and Noble.
However, as books become more valuable, so will a raise in their prices.
There goes my Sunday afternoons.
Hell, people can’t even rely on eBooks to actually store what they buy.
In July 2009, Amazon removed copies of George Orwell’s “1984” and “Animal Farm” from Kindle devices of readers who had already bought the literature.
Apparently, they didn’t have the rights to the book, and the publisher — MobileReference.com — requested it be removed immediately.
Talk about your “Big Brother.”
However, eBooks may have some use in the world. I will admit they are good for textbooks but nothing else.
The weight of textbooks can get a bit daunting for some students, so eBooks would eliminate this problem.
They are also beneficial in cutting back textbook price, offering a greener choice as opposed to a thick 1,000-page encyclopedia.
Not only do they provide full text in digital format, but the Kindle can highlight text and take notes.
As with all technology, though, it allows for easy distraction with social networking sites, such as Facebook and YouTube. There’s just something about eBooks that can’t compete with printed books. It’s the physical aspect.
I enjoy having shelves filled with books of all sizes.
Nothing can compare to the feel of a book in my hands and actually turning the pages, reading the type, and, yes, even smelling the copy, whether it is old and musty or freshly printed.
Sadly, people who prefer print will soon become like the dinosaurs.
Once the eBook expands, there won’t be much time before they, too, will go extinct.
As for me, I’ll be damned if an 8-ounce piece of plastic with a 6-inch screen will replace my real copies before I die.
By CLAIRE MUNN
Profiles Editor
clamunn@umail.iu.edu