I just bought a kindle a few days ago. Why? Because I heard it was amazing and as a student with a part-time job, I needed to have books handy with me. So I gave it a try. I'm not going to write a review, I'm just going to write how I feel...
First of all, with a kindle you can have cheap ebooks delivered instantly (save time and money - essential nowadays). It is discreet, light, stylishly designed... I like my kindle. But still, I miss the old good smell of books. I know what you're thinking, Oh c'mon! this is modern times! Get over it! I'm not saying that we should not use kindles or ipads or iphones. It's just that I miss whatever these devices are taking from us. It is personal.. and emotional to some extent.
It's like the books stored in my kindle are not my books because it is not something I can touch. They belong to the kindle, not to me. May be I am selfish or crazy, but one thing about me is I find it hard to lend any of my favorite books because it's like lending a part of me. When I read a book, a part of me is imprinted in the book and vice versa. It is like you give life to the characters and they eventually become part of your life. And like any human, a book eventually gets old (literally); the pages become old, they can be worn or torn but you know they've been your companion for a long long time. They bring back memories of a time long forgotten, like each page hides a story behind the actual story.
I'm sort of contradictory, but here is the conflict between modernity and traditionalism. We want whatever that saves us time, money and space, but there's also a need for whatever reminds us of our humanity, whatever evokes our senses. A book evokes our senses: the cover ((there's that book that I absolutely love that has got a great paperback cover, with a relief and while reading the book I like to look back at the cover, trying to decipher whatever secret it hides, touching the relief); we cannot compare a book jacket to a kindle cover: a book jacket speak to our mind while a kindle cover is plain), the smell of the book (each book has a unique smell).. but with a kindle, I feel blind. Really, blind is the word. It's more like consuming rather than reading. Is the pleasure of reading merely in the act of reading?
And my mind will not adjust to that new 'book'. It wants me to turn the page and I keep on looking for a page to turn. I think the act of touching a page sort of get us into the book (figuratively of course). It also give us some control over the book; that is, I can choose to let the character evolve by reading the next page or I keep him/her frozen in that instance.
There are just some sort of books that must be tangible. For example, illustration books. They are not necessary aimed to be read, there's just the graphics, the drawings and you cannot just stare at the screen. Staring at something without being able to touch (no double meaning) can be frustrated. It's so unreal.
Kindle is a good device, but to me it won't ever replace a book. If it encourages/promotes reading among youngsters who are drawn to new technologies, then hooray!
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