I'm not sure if this is a reading issue or not but its just something I have come to see and realize lately. I have always been the type of person that enjoys to read her books as a book that was printed with every page accessible to hold. I have noticed though that as I have gotten older the technology has moved more towards electronic books such as books on tape, books on CD, kindles, nooks, etc.
To me I feel like in a way books are becoming a part of history forgotten. Those of us who still read books in their rare original form get stares by onlookers who walk by and see us just reading our newest books. I feel like we as a society are almost saying that books in paper form are not eco-friendly and that we need to go completely electronic and try and save the planet.
I guess my interest is I wonder how everyone else feels about this? I have so many questions and concerns for people about why this may not be the best choice for us. I mean if you think about it we are using up electricity when we charge the electronic book, also what about the people who don't have the money to afford buying one of these? What will they do when we become a society that fully relies on having electronic books, and electronic everything?
This issue has become so common that you can now go online and buy college textbooks for your kindle or nook, in a way that is scary to think about especially since being a college student I know how important for me it is to be able to go back and highlight the book and re read it and not have to spend time fighting with something to get it to pull up a page.
In a way I recommend that we as a society and culture realize and learn that we need to make sure there is going to always be ways out there for people who cant afford things like this to be able to have paperback books to look at. We need to remember that sometimes what may seem like it uses more resources and energy really doesn't and may be the more useful option.
I hope that paper books will always be an active part of society. A paper book is accessible to all in ways that an electronic form is not. For those without access to an electronic reader or the internet or electricity, paper books are essential. I hate to see new divides between the haves and have-nots.
ReplyDeleteI was in Panama a couple months ago and the indigenous people on the island where we stayed did not have electricity.
I read a book on our I-Pad recently. It's convenient but I wouldn't choose an electronic version unless I didn't have access to a paper book.
I don't feel bad about the energy and resources that create books. Books can be passed on and re-used over and over.