Classic Rant #155 (December 17, 2009): Read a Book … A Real One

There is nothing like a good book.

Especially during the winter months on the East Coast, delving into a good book when it is frigid outside is almost like having your own fireplace. It lights you up, warms you, and puts you in a good frame of mind.

That is why, for the life of me, I can't understand the big deal about e-readers.

E-readers are the newest devices that the electronics industry has come up with to bring the book into the electronic age.

Users can download books--and supposedly newspapers, textbooks and other printed matter--from a variety of sources and have them at their fingertips through the e-book reader.

For the college student, this would be a boon to their lives, supposedly, because using an e-reader, they wouldn't be forced to carry around weighty--and pricey--textbooks, as everything would be on the e-reader.

The price might be more cost effective, too. With textbooks costing $100 and up, if you had one on your e-reader for a limited amount of time--say a school semester--you could probably save a lot of money.

But for the casual book reader, or newspaper reader, I just can't see what all the fuss is about.

Sure, it might be nice to store certain things, like newspaper articles, on such a device, but if you just want to read a book, why use an e-reader?

You can curl up with a good book, but can you curl up with a good book on an e-reader?

I don't know.

Personally, I would rather have the book. I like the touch and feel of a book, and reading pages, I think, will produce less strain on the eyes than reading a page off of a screen.

I think the e-reader--and its possibilities--are akin to what has happened to the dispersal of popular music over the past decade or so.

Previous generations wanted to own, to hold, to handle LPs and 45s and have them in a physical collection of recorded music. In today's world, owning, holding, and handling a physical product isn't that important anymore to so many people. The file is the important thing, and people buy files--not actual physical product--that they can use on their various gadgets, including iPods.

I think it is the same thing with the e-readers. Books and printed matter are thought to be disposable, and not that important to physically have anymore.

Personally, I still love to add to my record collection, and if I want a book, I want a real book, not an electronic one.

Maybe I am old fashioned, but a book is a book.

An electronic book is nothing more than a file.

Give me the book anytime.