Call me old-fashioned, I won't cry. I like books. I like to smell the paper and the ink. I like to feel the weight of the pages between my fingers. For the same reasons, I like magazines - real ones, not online 'zines - and newspapers. I love the smell of newsprint in the morning. It just isn't the same to read the morning news online.
The commercial for, I think, the Kindle cracks my daughter and me up. This guy is sitting on the beach with his Kindle, reading. What happens if he leaves his Kindle in his beach bag in the hot sun? What happens if he leaves it in his beach bag, goes into the water to swim, the tide rises, and his beachbag gets all wet? Or what if it's windy and sand gets in it? I know what happens to a book. The pages get endearingly crinkled, and sand gets stuck by the binding. And when you open that book again, months or years later, memories of that beach trip come flooding back. I can't imagine that the Kindle would fare as well.
I feel the same way about my music. I'd much rather buy a CD (what I still sometimes refer to as a record or album) versus downloading it via iTunes (or any other source). I like to fight with the shrinkwrap. I enjoy the frustration of trying to get that sticky "lock" off the top of the jewelbox. It's like getting a prize out of a treasure chest. This is why the songs I download onto my iPod are from music that I've uploaded (did I get those two verbs right, Caroline?) to my computer from actual CDs. I like owning a concrete thing versus owning the rights to have a song on my iPod. Some people actually still buy vinyl records and play them on a turntable! We used to call these record players. I think that is very cool.
I guess this all makes me a fossil. The way of the world is electronic. But I, for one, will not be buying a Kindle, Nook, or any other e-reader if I can possibly avoid it. And I will be buying albums for as long as the world will let me.
yours in music,
tracy
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3 comments:
Danielle is a voracious reader and resisted the e-reader phenom for years for all the reasons you detailed. The smell and feel of the paper, the way you hold a book, and the actual turning of the page are all important to her.
Right before we went on vacation this year, she suddenly (and sheepishly) expressed interest in the Nook when we pulled up to the mall. She went in, played around for ten minutes, discovered that the leather covers make it feel like a real book and fell in love.
She didn't want to lug a bunch of books around on the trip and the Nook was the answer. I think the only reason she went with the Nook was because it was there. Had she spent some time researching, she may have opted for a Kindle. Regardless, she decided that she wanted one.
She uses it every day and loves the heck out of it. The E-Ink display is quite nice and simulates the printed work very well.
In addition, the convenience of being able to purchase books on the fly and carry your entire library with you are things that shouldn't be ignored.
If it's something you haven't tried, I suggest playing around with one before writing it off. If Danielle can make the switch, I really do believe that anyone can.
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