Kate Langenburg/A&E Groove
When it comes to reading books online, I am totally unenthused. It seems that when people read their books over the internet, they are no longer really reading a book. Merely just a webpage.
When amazon.com released the first Kindle reader, my sentiments remained the same. Sure, it may hold up to 1,500 books in a tiny little machine, but it still doesn’t feel the same as reading an actual book.
Reading something on a small little screen, like the Kindle’s, will surely wear down your eyes after a period of time. The same can be said for reading a lot of text online. Many people that work in front of computer screens for hours at a time are known to get frequent headaches, blurred vision, and an eventual increase in glasses prescription.
I can understand if you’re stuck in an office all day and have no choice but to stare a computer screen, but why would you want to do that in your free time?
The latest thing that’s really got my goat is that California governator Arnold Swartzenegger has recently banned books in schools. (Read about the travesty at the Times website.) These kids aren’t even given a choice about whether or not they want a real live book in front of them. This extraneous technology is being thrown at them whether they like it or not.
“Sorry, Timmy. Looks like you’ll have to bring that real copy of Moby Dick home. In this classroom, we use our Kindles.”
By doing this, are we teaching children literature or technology?
I don’t know about you, but for me there’s nothing like the feeling of curling up in a cozy place with a great book in your hands. The characters seem more alive, and seem to transfix the reader more than a machine or the internet ever could.
Somehow, I just don’t think curling up with a Kindle could ever be quite so appealing.
I am definitely against reading books on-line. Can’t anyone do anything without using technology? Why not just glue a computer to your head? Give me a good old fashioned paperback or hard cover novel anyday. And while we are it..more people should use their local library!
I don’t like the idea of this Kindle. I love the smell of books. I can’t see myself loving the smell of a Kindle. Plus what happens when you fall asleep reading? Does the Kindle shut off automatically? Arnie should not ban books in school. Buying all these Kindles and such for kids is such a waste of money. The money for education should be put to better use!
While I won’t knock getting a book in print, I’m more of a fan of the digital copies. Mainly it’s about price and space. I have thousands of great books at my fingertip for free with digital copies and they take up no room. Of course I could always take a trip to the library, but I would still have to return them. With a digital copy, I can keep it as long as I’d like and nobody cares since they can just get a copy for themselves. E-Readers like the Kindle are just a way to make digital copies portable. Of course a print version would be much better since tree’s don’t come with USB charging ports and e-readers only have a limited battery life, but that gets better as the technology does.
As for the whole “Banning of Books,” to me it makes perfect sense. Schools are getting increasingly over crowded. California is the most populous state in the U.S. It shouldn’t be hard to understand the state of school in California. Switching to a digital format may expensive at first, but it will save in the long run. Not to mention that the empty library can now be converted into classroom, and the kids can all get the same book without a waiting list. Plus copies of textbooks can be updated on the fly for little cost.
The main problem with digital copies is when DRM is used. Certain e-readers, like the Kindle, give the service provider the ability to manipulate and protect the books they sell. So no letting your friend borrow a book from you. Even worse, they have the ability to change things on the fly. Recently people found that books they had on their Kindle one day were gone the next. (Ironically they were George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984.) The publisher seemed to have revoked the right to sell digital copies of the book and had Amazon remove all purchased copies as well. Which is why I’ll stick with my free books on my netbook.
I just can’t imagine a world where libraries don’t exist. I would hate to think that I would not be able to visit one and check out books, movies, music, whatever. The Kindle and other ereaders may work for some people, but maybe I’m just old fashioned.
We’ll always have “libraries,” they’ll just be a bit different. Checkout Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org
I definitely don’t like it. It’s taken things from a personal level to a technological one, which further separates us from each other. Technology, at times, is a singular commitment. Look at that eReader on the side of the page, too. It’s so small. Surely, you will go blind at some point if you read a lot of books on that thing.