Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
The whole "tactile pleasure" thing is getting old. Most of them have an example of the unimportance of tactile pleasure right in front of them... their computer keyboard, which looks and feels nothing like the keyboard of a good ol' manual typewriter. Anyone who believes the experience of holding a bound book and turning pages will somehow "save" the paper book from being replaced is being intentionally obtuse.
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They also forget all the times when it's a PITA to read from paper. Some books are beautiful (most are not) but they are also often heavy and unwieldy. Anything more than a few hundred pages can really tire your hands out after a few hours, especially when you're at the beginning or end of a book and it's lopsided. With larger books, I often had to prop them on a pillow on my lap if I was reading for a long time, much to the consternation of the cat. Sitting in one position too long can get my back hurting, so I'd often had to choose between which part of me was comfortable, my hands or my back. That's not a problem now.
Plus, I'm mostly a recreational reader now. Back when I was in school and had to lug around a bunch of books everyday, I would've killed for a small, light reading device. I never could carry them all so I'd try to figure out which ones I wanted that day but often I'd end up wanting one that was at home. I was pretty much reading all the time to keep up with my schedule. If I had a couple minutes, I'd pull a book out. We referred to the 5th food group: Things you can eat one-handed while reading. When you have to read that much, utility quickly trumps tradition.
Nostalgia only goes so far. I'm not longing to return to the days before email or mobile phones, either. Some people seem to like to reminisce about how much quieter and more peaceful it was back then when in fact it would drive them nuts if they tried to go back to it. I bet if most of these folks tried a good reading device for a few books, they'd see the light.