Read an article today about how the iPad and the Kindle are changing the book publishing indusry completely. I must confess to feeling rather sad by the news.
For despite all my talk about a paperless office and how we must embrace technology, I like having my stories delivered to me in a good sized book. There is a sense of comfort, a sense of taking me back to a favorite place, that a book delivers, that I've just not been able to get with a digital book. Perhaps because the book is there even after the power fails, the book is not as fragile as the digital version, and it takes effort to destroy. Perhaps that is why it conveys a sense of permanence and authoritythat I have not been able to get from a digital book.
And yet, have I really tried ? Do I really know what the digital book has to offer, and how it could change my reading experience ?
I saw a Kindle once and loved it. I had no use for it, because the Amazon network has not extended to India, so it would be a pretty static library out here.
Perhaps it is the return to India that has allowed me to get a grip on the mad dash to digitality and appreciate the more traditonal or legacy stuff.
Whatever it is, I do know, that when I dreamed of writing a book - I intended for it to be a paper book, one that I could hold in my hand and display, not a digital version. And then again - I'm having so much fun blogging!
I know how you feel..that was the same reason I never bought a Kindle and continued to read through our traditional books until I read about the iPad. I now have one and it is an amazing reading experience. I am one of those readers that gets bored of a book too soon and like to switch books..until my mind wanders again on a new topic and I now want to read something else...Imagine having to carry all those books for someone like me. iPad is the perfect solution for me..It's size, the way the books appear, the traditional-book reading experience, increase the screen/fonts by twitching the screen with my thumb and my index finger..Great colors..now have high-def videos embedded into my reading material (like those harry potter newspapers with dynamic content)..it's amazing! Wi-Fi is available in most places these days, and you can download enough to take you along for a long time. The battery lasts a good 12 -18 hours before you need a re-charge..and have access to the 200,000 applications of all kinds on the application store..
ReplyDeleteI know you can't replace a home library of great books, great reading material with a digital version...but hey the library travels with you...
Highly recommend the iPad...Steve Jobs has changed the world.
3 years, and 3 iPads later I must say I agree. Next stop read books on my mobile.....................
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