I recently started a post on this subject at my Webgrammar social networking site. Here is another wonderful response from writer, poet, educator, editor, and more.
Guest post by Holly Jahangiri
It will make me very sad to see them go.
I like to literally curl up with a good book – and not worry about the batteries going dead.
I think about this, in terms of history, as well. We can read manuscripts that are hundreds – no, thousands – of years old. Can you still read data from a 5.25″ diskette from the 1980s?
Color eBook readers are prohibitively expensive and hard to come by. And who really wants to hand a $260 eBook reader to a three-year-old? I certainly would not leave one in my child’s crib, as I did with board books. What better way to encourage reading – to ensure that books feel comfortable and familiar later in life – than to scatter a few about in the crib for baby’s entertainment?
Books help to slow the pace of a frenzied day. Will eBook readers do that?
Will those who control the technology control what gets carried forward – and can thus be read – twenty, thirty years from now? Or will eBook readers just lead to an Orwellian mess?
Sure, I’d love to tuck an eBook reader into my purse (I prefer Barnes & Noble’s Nook, personally). But the thought of them supplanting printed books scares and saddens me.
Holly,
Right there with you!! I need to touch my books, and yes, we spent a lot of time handling them, and playing with them when the kids were little. I love the historical perspective you give. Really, that is way important! It’s also why I love old instruments, and old music performed on them…thx.