Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I'm a little perturbed..

By the arrival of the Sony Reader.
This little gadgety thing does away with the need for books - glorious, paper smelling, thick, print-laden books.
Instead you get a cool metal gadgety doodah, which no doubt eats batteries or needs plugging in and you read your latest "must read" on screen.
Oh no. It's wrong. It's simply wrong. Not only will it give you eye-strain, but you lose the best bit of the book experience.
You lose the feel of a book, the weight of it in your hands, the chance to run your fingers over the embossed cover, the chance to flick back and forth, to fold down the corners (yes, yes I know, this is vay bad habit), to feel the warm texture of the paper and to enjoy the smell.
I've had cause to visit both Eason HQ and the warehouses of Argosy Books in Dublin and the thing that struck me was the delicious smell of print, the piles of books all fresh and ready for the reading.
The Sony Reader, takes away that lovely personal relationship with books and makes it all mechanical.
Sure it might take up less room in your luggage while on holiday, but woe betide your battery runs out just as the big plot twist kicks in.
No, Sony, we don't want your reader. Thank you.

4 comments:

Fionnuala said...

Hear hear! Though I fear this is hte future and it may fall on deaf ears...Fx

Anonymous said...

I totally agree!!! (Except for the turning down the corners bit, tutt tutt.) Nothing beats a good book. This reminds me of when they introduced screw top bottles of wine. Where's the ritual, the drinking in of all senses as well as the enjoyment of a good read.
Bugger the trees!

Donna said...

Hmmmm, I love the smell of new books, old books, books, papers. I love buying them from bookstores and book fairs and I always indulge myself with a deep inhale!
Uh, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Unknown said...

I agree - I don't like the idea of the new Reader quite simply because I love books. I love the feel of books, the fun of spending ages in Waterstons shopping for new books. Nothing could ever replace that.

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