My friends and I pass around our "light" reading, rather light on the pocket even for those who paid anything from half a dollar to two for a used book. Many times the message is:
"When you're finished you don't have to return it,. Just give it to somebody else."
And there are the children's books up in our attic which my son must find to give to the grandchildren who are starting to read, thank G-d.
Just like those audio-cassettes that can no longer be listened to or the videos so delicate they can rip in the rare VCR still in use, e-books will just expire into useless history. And e-books aren't cheap. They're disposable, sort of evaporating libraries.
To me, getting an e-book is like going to the movies and then needing the toilet and missing a crucial scene. I'd rather wait a bit and buy the DVD. At least it'll last a couple of years, rather than the 137 minutes of today's movies. And a DVD can cost no more and usually less than a couple of movie tickets, and I can see it in the comfort of my own home, taking necessary breaks and re-viewing crucial scenes.
A real paper book, bought new cost the equivalent of a couple of e-books and it can last for decades and be read by hundreds. If you wait, you can get it cheaper.
That's it. I'm not in the market for one of those electric contraptions, the faux book for e-books.
3 comments:
I agree. There's a great website abebooks.com where you can buy second hand books from all over the world. And I love secondhand books, they have a "history" to them. And there's a bookstore here where you can swap your old books and take home someone else's. Great fun.
I agree that e-book readers have severe drawbacks when it comes to casual reading of modern works.
However, if you love the classics, they're all available for free and you can pass them on to anyone you want. Google has more than a million free e-books. You can also check out newer e-books from many libraries.
I have 233 books on my Sony Pocket Edition e-reader and have room for many times that amount.
E-Readers aren't for everybody, but I enjoy mine immensely.
Michael, no doubt, you're of a different generation concerning those things.
Devorah, I agree.
One and all, I didn't even get into a different angle, Jewish Sabbath observers. We are forbidden electric devices, so only paper books are permitted.
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