With different reading tastes in mind, here comes the e-reader. What is th
e e-reader going to contribute to my life and how will it change my ideas of literature? I'm anticipating both the best and the worst.
Already coming off the stress of what to read, now my professors are questioning HOW I read. I love the flip of the pages, the bending of the spine, and the cliché coffee stains splattered across the back cover. I even love the curling of the four paperback corners. However, I must say goodbye to that when I put on the e-reader right? Okay, fine. I'll do it. (But only cause my self-help book told me I should be "open to the new".)
With this question in the air - I relate it to another transition I just went through. This week my computer crashed and the motherboard fried. For a college student, this is a nightmare of great proportions. So, in I go to Best Buy to fix the mess. Knowing, regrettably, that
this is my second failed HP Pavilion, I tell Justin - my new Geek Squad friend - that "I will never get another HP!" He then proceeds to bring me to the PC section where, in my mind, all I see is...motherboard failure after the next.
Lit up strategically with small spotlights by the Best Buy staff, the Apple section looks like heaven. Mac Mac Mac and more Mac. All white and clean and slim. I felt like I've just seen the before and after of a Jenny Craig program. From the bulky, loud PCs to the clean, sleek Macs - I am definitely intimidated. As one who is pretty good with computers I ask all the questions from RAM to conversions to software.
I am sold. I walk out of there - my wallet crying - with my new white MacBook.
Just as I walk out I think to myself, I am one of them. I am a Mac. Damn. No longer can I be that middle class PC kid who has an overly loud fan and a slowed down motherboard only capable of running one thing at a time. I also missed my sticker collection on the back. Instead, I was now apart of this prestigious club of photo booths and iChats.
And like the books I read, I got reactions. Some good, some bad, some impressed, some disgruntled, others envious. Overall they were judgements. They were sizing me up. They were sizing my new technology up.
However, after a couple of days with my new Mac, I have to admit - its great. My "knowledgeable" reputation of a great computer geek as changed, since a Mac runs completely differently - but its everything the hot guy in the commercial promised me. It proves to be fast, easy, and very pretty. I realized like my books, a Mac is different and prone to opinions, but I'm still getting something out of it. A PC gave me incredible patience. A Mac gives me less weight in my bag.
So this conversion from PC to Mac and paperback to e-reader may not be so bad. I might miss the stickers and the coffee stains, but less weight is always nice.
I've read that E-readers are a lot easier to read than Macs and PCs. Meaning, it doesn't hurt your eyes as much and would be easier to read in the sunshine on a beach or in a field. I think there will be a certain amount of versatility with E-readers that cannot be met by physical books. Wind will not be a problem, nor will apparent darkness. Rain might but so would a book.
ReplyDeleteI like your juxtaposition with books to e-readers and pcs to macs, as I too have struggled through that process. I think it's essential to keep an open mind with these new technologies, as we're still young enough that we don't have the excuse of being senile to spare us.
I asked my optometrist the other day at an appointment if staring at an e-reader type device for long periods of time was going to be harmful to your eyes, and surprisingly he said it shouldn't be too bad for various periods of time. I agree with both of y'all though in regards to the convenience of this technological push forward while at the same time emphasizing with the sensual experiences that are apart of physical novels and the process of reading.
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