Wazzup Pilipinas!
"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."
Our imagination takes us to several wonderful places just by reading a book. But is the trip still the same if we read the stories from an e-book?
Reading a "real" book is a beautiful, but endangered, hobby! However, what's all the fuzz about comparing a real book from an e-book that we can read through gadgets such as the Kindle?
Real books are great, but good luck carrying the whole Harry Potter collection in your travels. There is nothing like the smell of a new book, but with a Kindle, you can have a lot of e-books cheaper than a "real" book, and you can transport more e-books than books. I don't think about Kindles as "enemies," I think about them as complements or aid.s I think that e-books can reach much more people, which is not bad. I prefer a new book, but I would use a kindle every day for practicality.
A Kindle may be like listening to a CD rather than a live band. Sounds good, but much of the 'essence' is missing. But I still love both!
There's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned book, but e-readers are fascinating and wonderful in their own right as well. Sometimes I want the feel of a book in my hands and sometimes I just want to read a book instantly without a trip searching at the book store so I can read the treasured manuscripts that have been digitized that only academics and curators ever get to touch in person.
They actually have paper farms that are specifically used for making books. They don't go cut down rain forests and regular forests to make books anymore. There is an entire process to create books these days. Definitely not bad for the environment how you think. Buying an e reader works just as hard on the environment and especially the fuel used to transport them to stores is bigger.
Manufacturing an e-reader is infinitely more harmful to the environment than a hand bound book. You just need a few basic natural materials to make a hand-bound book. To make an e-reader you need to mine assorted rare (and often toxic) elements, extract and refine them, build a factory to manufacture them, distribute them, power them and a book can be burnt and provide heat\cook a meal if there is no further use for it, or the need for fire to survive outweighs the books value. Can you wipe your arse in a moment of desperation with an e-reader? Wake up, your views on the environmental expense of modern conveniences is either under informed, severely distorted or you are just taking the piss and trying to get people to bite - which is kinda dull & lame.
To the paper/Kindle elitists, I don't understand your fetishes. It's like you're saying that your imagination and ability to absorb information is based solely upon the medium through which it is delivered (even though they're both print media). So, like, does food only give you sustenance if it's on a certain type of plate? Or do clothes only cover your body if they're of a certain brand? Perhaps water only hydrates you when drank from a specific glass?
You guys arguing that e-books are "better", I won't say that you don't have an argument whereas functionality is involved. Let's compare value though, your e-books and mp3's vs. my physical books, magazines, and albums. Then let's do another comparison after 10 years, and then 20 years and so on.
A book is a beautiful thing. The timeless, simple elegance of a book will always trump technology and its requirements. No charger needed, no battery, no "technical glitch". But reading a real book is probably already a lost art, as so many things are becoming as technology invades all aspects of our lives, as does political correctness. I would have preferred to read a book with real paper pages, as I prefer to paint a picture using a real paintbrush and paints instead of going digital on everything. But if I have convenient and immediate access to an e-book, then why not.
We progressed from the middle ages for a reason, humans we're made to continuously surpass themselves, stop romanticizing the past. The evolution of the human race is just as beautiful as the ancient crafts that need to fall into the wayside to let it happen, get over it, stop trying to be a critic of the times and get on with your life in the time that you are in it.
I have many books at home... too many, actually. I don't want anymore. I don't need books to line my walls so that everyone can see how smart or well-read I am. I passed that stage several years ago. Now I prefer the space.
I'm pretty sure this is why the Kindle was invented. I can now carry in my pocket a bookshelf's worth of books when I travel. No need to carry a heavy weight. They can keep me productively busy for several hours, and even days.
We, the readers, are the real endangered work of art, immersed in a culture that has become so shallow that it can't digest much more than a tweet or a 30-second sound byte. Can't we all simply unite around a common love? Regardless of means or method, people are reading. Right now, raise your book, your phone, your iPad, your Kindle, whatever, and repeat after me...
We are THE READERS, couldn't be PROUDER, if you can't HEAR US, we'll yell a little bit LOUDER!
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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