System 13

A few years ago, I saw an electronic device like this for reading books. You basically downloaded a book file to it, and then the text would appear on the screen. When you were ready to turn the page you hit a button, and voila, the page turned. When I saw that, I panicked a bit: would this electronic – thing - replace my precious books? It better not.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a geek. I like technology. I like computers (love might be a better word). I own and use a cellphone. If I were placed on an Amish farm for a few weeks, I’d probably come out of the experience stark-raving mad. My first priority would be to find an internet connection. I really like computers and gadgets.  But I don’t want any gadget replacing my books.

I don’t care if they make it to where all of the digital text is the in the same print; all of the same images are included. I don’t care how “close” to the real thing an electronic gadget comes. I don’t want a gadget replacing my books. I can’t even really say why I feel this way. I don’t have any obsessive attachment to paper (that I know of, anyway); I just know that having an electronic version just isn’t the same – isn’t as comforting, even – as having the actual book. The electronic version has no weight, barring the weight of the device you’d use to read it. It has no scent, besides that scent that all electronics have. If you had an electronic version, you’d never hear that pleasant sound of a page turning. By using an electronic device to read books instead of actually having the books, you’d be taking the soul out of the book, I think.

There’s also a more practical reason for my disdain towards electronic book reading things: they use software. Any piece of software can crash. Books, however, do not crash. Imagine being all comfy in your bed, holding your book-tablet. You’re engrossed in a great book. And then, the software that makes the book-tablet work crashes, leaving you with the equivalent of a blue screen of death. That’d kind of ruin the whole experience, wouldn’t it?

I can’t see books going anywhere anytime soon. There are, quite simply, too many bibliophiles like me. However, if there is ever any sign of electronic book reading devices taking over the market, I may do something drastic like chain myself in front of a bookstore or something.