Nota Bene: This post was originally published on 01 January 2012 at my old wordpress blog. Republishing it here as a reminder to myself of my musings back then.
I have mentioned quite a few times already that I am completely attached to my kindle, so much so that I have embraced digital books completely.
Day after christmas, the dreaded happened. the LCD screen of my kindle3 broke. and since it is out of warranty already, I have no choice but to buy a new one. I’m waiting to have my credit card cleared so that i can get myself a new one.
While waiting for it, I have been using my iPad 2’s kindle app to read books, and already I’m missing my kindle! i can’t read in direct sunlight and it doesn’t have a text-to-speech function (boohoo!)
the iPad was inconvenient for me to lug around. First off, it was way too flashy to bring anywhere, and I was reading while waiting in line inside the bank and the security guards kept on coming over to ensure that I was not using its camera/video function. another boohoo for me. (Communication and recording devices are prohibited from being used inside banks in the Philippines)
So today I tried lugging around physical books while going about my day and running errands. Yes, i do miss the smell of a brand-spanking-new book and all that good stuff but there are a few things I do not miss about physical books.
For one thing, I’d forgotten how nosy people can be. a few times today, i have been asked about the book i’d been reading, its story, was the author good, etc.. since i was carrying a book that has quite a flashy cover and an intriguing author, it’s just a quick pull for people. I quite didn’t appreciate being interrupted every few paragraphs or so. I didn’t miss that about reading physical books.
Another thing I didn’t miss is lugging around a bookmark. I am one of those booklovers who hate to ear-mark the pages of their books to mark their progress. I feel like ear-marking is another form of vandalism. It wasn’t supposed to be a problem, really, but since people kept interrupting my reading time, and without a bookmark in sight, I kept losing my way. so much so that i had to stick my finger in it everytime someone asks me something or stick a napkin in it while I do something else.
Also, I missed the variety my kindle offered me. It used to be, I would read several books simultaneously and I only had to carry one device the size of a thin paperback. Now, because I had a small purse with me, I was stuck with just one book, one story.
I know I shouldn’t be bitching about all these because it was how it was done before kindles and e-readers and tablets came along.. but I had been soo used to my kindle that i’d forgotten.
maybe if those hardcore physical book champions hate e-readers so much just because they haven’t had the chance to try it. I think if they would be given the chance to use an e-reader for a few days, they too would change their minds.
One thing I really loved about my kindle is the feeling that I am helping save Mother Earth by not using paper for something I would read once or twice.. (tho I’m a complete book recidivist! I can read one story over and over and over if i really like it!)
To those who are hardcore on their booklust, I really suggest just trying ebook readers out before judging it.
I have done a complete 180degrees on my physical books stance. Maybe they will too.
Til then,
Stay Wild, Moon Child
XXOO The Bookworm
EllaLand 