Passing on E-Book Readers

I appreciate and even enjoy technology as much as the next person, but there are some aspects that I will never be a fan of: an e-book reader is a perfect example of this.  I am unapologetically old-fashioned when it comes to books, because I love turning pages, even though I know many would argue about the destruction of trees to make them.  While I understand the convenience of having a Kindle or Sony Reader that contains content from numerous books is highly attractive to many, I will never see it as a replacement for traditional paperbacks and hardcover books. I am not saying I wouldn’t accept it as a gift, but I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way to buy one.

Recent news of a high school student suing Amazon for removing the electronic version of George Orwell’s 1984 hasn’t helped to improve my opinion of electronic readers and digital reading as a whole. Although I believe the plaintiff should have had a hard copy version of his notes, I can understand how disconcerting it must have been to turn on one’s e-book reader and find that the content (which was paid for in good faith) was deleted without warning. It is a lesson for anyone who has, or is considering the purchase of this type of electronic device. I don’t know if this case will make it to court or not, but it makes me glad that I have not become a digital reading devotee. 

The bottom line is that many of us are already reading and viewing way too much on our computers, laptops, and mobile phones. I think we need to step away from our screens to rest our eyes and just take a break from technology from time to time. After all, the human race survived without e-books for centuries.  I will stick to libraries and book stores of all sorts, thank you!