MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Those "I just like the feel of a book in my hand" people

captcrouton · 10-08-2010, 01:56 AM

I like ebooks because of accessibility, not necessarily because of the experience. Don't get me wrong. I love my Kindle. It's my favorite gadget ever. But I live in a foreign country where English books are hard to find. I doubt I would've bought it this soon, if I were living in the States.

I downloaded a few of the Oz books on my Kindle. I used to check them out at the local library as a kid. These were ancient hardcovers at the time. The books had been repaired so many times, I think some of them were originals. But it was the artwork of John Neill (forgive if I misspelled that) that made me love the books. They had some of those color picture plates in them. It was the fact that the pages were disintegrating and the ancient book smell, made me feel like I was almost traveling in time, knowing that some kid read this Eleventy hundred years ago just like me on the back of some triceratops. (Ok, that's an exaggeration but I was a kid with a strong sense of imagination) And of course the books were magical in their style.

And that experience can't be reclaimed on the Kindle versions I got. No artwork. Obviously no color plates. But I can't dup that even at the library. They don't have those books anymore. I looked for them. The librarian is significantly younger than Mrs Roth (who I still see at the little cafe and chat with when I come home).

I digress, but that sort of childhood made me love books. And I still love them paper or electronic.

10-08-2010, 01:56 AM	#67
captcrouton Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 84 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Kyiv, Ukraine Device: Kindle 2	I like ebooks because of accessibility, not necessarily because of the experience. Don't get me wrong. I love my Kindle. It's my favorite gadget ever. But I live in a foreign country where English books are hard to find. I doubt I would've bought it this soon, if I were living in the States. I downloaded a few of the Oz books on my Kindle. I used to check them out at the local library as a kid. These were ancient hardcovers at the time. The books had been repaired so many times, I think some of them were originals. But it was the artwork of John Neill (forgive if I misspelled that) that made me love the books. They had some of those color picture plates in them. It was the fact that the pages were disintegrating and the ancient book smell, made me feel like I was almost traveling in time, knowing that some kid read this Eleventy hundred years ago just like me on the back of some triceratops. (Ok, that's an exaggeration but I was a kid with a strong sense of imagination) And of course the books were magical in their style. And that experience can't be reclaimed on the Kindle versions I got. No artwork. Obviously no color plates. But I can't dup that even at the library. They don't have those books anymore. I looked for them. The librarian is significantly younger than Mrs Roth (who I still see at the little cafe and chat with when I come home). I digress, but that sort of childhood made me love books. And I still love them paper or electronic.