E-Readers

I always loved during winter vacations to cuddle up in my bed with a paperback and read. The feeling of the pages between my fingers and the satisfaction and accomplishment that comes with turning each page, so maybe I’m over exaggerating but still I loved having a real object in hand. The problem is that I go through book very quickly because when I sit down with a book that I’m really interested in I’m not putting it down till it’s finished. That created a problem for storage and budget. No matter how much I love sit down and read it’s hard when getting the next book in the series I’m reading means getting a twenty-five dollar paperback that takes up more room then I have on my shelf.

Then senior year after coming back from Christmas break my friend Hanna had a nifty new contraption that she loved. (Note: I attended a half day half boarding school and she was a boarder so space was a major factor along with her dad being a techno nerd (I mean that in the sweetest way possible)) I was very skeptical when I first saw a Kindle, it was really cool but wasn’t for me so I thought. Once starting college and moving into the dorms I realized I had little space, no way of getting to a bookstore easily, and no budget for twenty dollar books.

Come Christmas I had myself a Kindle, it was really nice to have the ability to read as much as I wanted. I chose the kindle over the IPad for a few reasons the first being I HATE reading on computer screens the backlighting really hurts my eyes and makes it hard to concentrate. Also having internet connection for me is kryptonite, I always feel I would be playing games or surfing the internet instead of using it for what it was for….reading. Those are the main reasons I personally chose the Kindle over the IPad. Something that was amazing when I was searching through the available free books was finding classics like Jane Austin, were usually the Jane Austin Collection is about thirty to thirty-five dollars at least.

Even though there are great advantages to having E-Readers I am worried about the affect it is having on the publishing and therefore bookstore industry. With the paperback sales down the long term effect of E-Readers is still uncertain. The loss of the printing industry would be a cultural failure on our part as consumers. I may love the convenience of my Kindle but I still want to be to go to a bookstore and search the shelves for an interesting looking cover or be able to read the back flap of the book. It’s those silly little things that I don’t think should be over taken even though it has slowly moved in that direction after the shutting down of so many Borders books.