I have had a Kindle in my Amazon shopping cart at least a half a dozen times. As a matter of fact, I think it is on my wishlist and in the "save for later" collection I have stored online. So, why, tech geek that I am, have I not made the purchase?
First, the Kindle and similar e-reading machines -- or as the industry calls them "wireless reading devices" -- are EXPENSIVE. What is more, I am outright telling lies to myself when I argue that I can justify the expense by the amount of money I will save buying books. The truth is that it is likely the nation will be out of debt before I stop buying books. I know my bibliophilic habit is one that will not be kicked. Not all the intervention in the world will fixthis addiction I suffer.
So, if the Kindle or the Sony Reader were within reasonable price, I would likely buy one or the other and give electronic reading machines a try. Right now, I just cannot bring myself to do it.
Secondly, I love the tactile materiality of the book. I love the smell of books. I love the art on the covers of paperbacks. I love to make marginalia and to dogear pages. I interact with the physical object. I love to re-open books - some times years later - and see my response to an author's words, sentences, paragraphs, stories. So, in addition to the unaffordability of Kindle and Sony Reader, I guess I am a neo-Luddite when it comes to e-reading machines.
Still though, the fact that one year ago there were 38 million e-book titles and today there are 70 million is cause for pause. What does the gravitation toward electronic reading mean for the print book as an industry? What does it mean for libraries? For readers who cannot afford to buy books- print or electronic? For the artists who design books and book covers?
Remediation is a phenomenon I like and I dislike. Why not keep the old and adopt the new? Reading as we know it and as it is becoming can co-exist.
For now, perhaps, it is a good thing that e-reading machines are pricey?
2 comments:
I love love love my kindle. As someone who just built new bookshelves that will NOT hold 1500 books....I can tell you that the Kindle was WAY cheaper. I've done a post about why I love my Kindle and am getting ready to do a post this week on things about my Kinde that I'm not sure I like.
I found your blog using the networked blog site. I look forward to reading more!
Hi Tami:
Thanks for weighing in on this. I am going to go over to your blog and read the pros and cons, as you see them.
I just can't bring myself, just yet, to press the send order button on the Amazon cart.
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