Latest electronic readers lack romance of traditional books

By Josselyn Berry, March 2010
Editor-in-Chief

These days technology trends seem to come and go with the swiftness of a 3G iPhone. Currently, that fad is electronic book readers. Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Sony have all created and marketed their devices as the prime substitute for lugging around tattered books. However, I fail to see that there is even a problem with an actual book.

Let me first admit that I still read books for pure enjoyment. I’m a devoted reader and enjoy having a book to carry around. For me, a book is like having a deterrent from boredom or against talking to people I’m not interested in. Even more so, I love the weight of a good book. I love the smell, the texture, how it looks on my shelf, how I can grab it and open it up and find that sentence that makes my heart leap by its absolute beauty.

I believe in progress and technological advancement, but at the same time, I’m a traditionalist. Certain things do not need improvement with technology; they’re beautiful in their antiquity, and books are one of them.

I shudder to imagine a world without libraries or bookstores. These places contain more than books; they contain a sense of stillness. They are sanctuaries where someone can be alone, but not lonely. It’s a place to merge with all of civilization just by opening a book by Eudora Welty or Ernest Hemingway.

I can’t imagine how removed their words or a passionate poem would seem if read through the sterile lens of an electronic reader. I don’t think you can truly merge with the rest of the world with an electronic reader. A distance is created by that manufactured screen. It’s a distance I don’t want and yearn to close; I want to be as close to the story as possible. I’d much rather sit in the warm bookstore with its wafting scents of coffee, pastries and ink.

I can’t understand the faction of people who always need the newest technological device. Is that phone really worth a $100 of your money when it only does one extra thing? Do you really need another mp3 player that holds 200,000 songs when you only have 3,000? Besides, the Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook cost $259, and you still need to purchase the books. These electronic readers are an unwelcome middle man. Books purchased on the Kindle are still $9.99. The price of a simple book that otherwise would have cost only $9.99 instead costs $269 with a Kindle.

So I reject the Kindle and the Nook and any other electronic reader. I don’t appreciate anyone getting in the middle of an excellent book and me.