I would like to preface this post by saying I am not a Luddite. Of course, I’m generally not someone who rushes out to purchase the hottest new thing on the tech market (I don’t even own an iPhone), but when I do finally adopt something, I all of a sudden can’t live without it. The thought of leaving the house without my iPod or cell phone actually makes me nervous, and now that I have a flat-screen TV–please–how did I ever do with anything less?
So a few years ago, when Amazon launched the Kindle, I didn’t rush out to buy one. I figured I had plenty of printed books to read and could get by just fine with those for a while. When Steve Jobs announced the iPad in January, I thought I wanted one. But they’ve now been on the market for five months and I haven’t even held one. And yet, when Penguin recently decided to give me my very on e-reader, I thought, “Awesome! I can join all the cool kids now.”
At first it was great. I could read manuscripts and proposals without having to lug around hundreds of sheets of paper, and the e-reader was so handy on my rush hour commutes! But then, one night, as I was reading a manuscript, I found myself straining. “I can’t read on this thing,” I announced to myself. “I want paper.”
Today, the New York Times, ran an article discussing the various reading preferences of book buyers and the various ways publishers have been trying to accommodate the dual desires for print and e-books. Which brings me to my question…which do you prefer and why?
I read the NYT article and cracked up at the picture. That’s what my boyfriend and I look like on a typical Sunday afternoon at the apartment. Except, my boyfriend (also the one on the iPad) isn’t reading a book. After reading an e-book for 10 minutes, he eventually checks ESPN.com for updates, gets on Reddit, and starts playing one of the many games he has downloaded on his iPad. The distraction of internet on these devices really kills the whole getting lost in a book thing. Especially the iPad, which I don’t consider an e-reader really–it’s more of a fun toy with cool games, apps, and internet for easy, quick browsing. I can feel for Ms. Muskat: “We used to go to the beach and we’d both take out books, but he had an iPad, and it was almost distracting because it didn’t feel like he was reading with me.”
First of all, so embarrassing for you to admit you don’t own an iPhone on the Internet. Don’t you know people will Google your name and discover that about you? No hiding it now.
Second, e-books are way better. Just make the font bigger if you can’t read it. For something like THE ELEMENTS where the book is an object, great, but when I’m tearing through one of my beloved paranormal-romance-urban-fantasy-thrillers, e-book is the way to go. Now, back to reading the adventures of a witch detective and the hulky, brooding were-bear who makes her so angry she just might MARRY him.
I can’t really comment on the iPad, but knowing how easily I get distracted, I’d probably do the same thing as your boyfriend, Sonya. Or I would constantly feel the need to update my Facebook profile or Tweet to reflect my thoughts on whatever I was reading at the time.
Also, David, I actually DID try making the font bigger, but that didn’t seem to be the issue. I’m not sure what it is, and I was fully prepared to love my e-reader. I do like it if I need to read something quickly–a long proposal or manuscript, for instance. I also really enjoy reading the newspaper on it (though I don’t do it often). And I’m not too concerned about my reputation–I do plan to get an iPhone (or something similar) when/if Verizon ever gets one.
Finally, I believe there is a social element to printed books that e-books don’t provide. I met one of my good friends on the subway because she was reading a book I was interested in. If she’d been reading it on her Kindle, I never would have been able to tell because I would not have seen the jacket. Perhaps there’s a way for this to change–an e-reader that projects holographic images of the book you’re reading above your head or something.
I treat books like trophies. I love lining them up on a shelf once I’ve read them. I’m all about the hard copy!