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Chances are, if you are reading this, you are not sitting on the beach. Chances are,
if you are reading this, you are not curled up by a nice cozy fire. Chances are, if you
are reading this, I may be preaching to the wrong congregation. Obviously, you are using a
computer to peruse a website that specializes in literary material. And being the
sophisticated person you are, you probably browse other book, news, or entertainment sites
as well. I have no problem with that. There is room enough for everyone.
What I do have a problem with, though, is the phenomenon known as the eBook, that
technologically smug collection of bytes that one can view on their laptop, desktop, palm,
or stand-alone reader. As if we don't already spend enough time in front of a screen, be
it the computer, the television, or some video game.
Do we need the computer as another appliance in the kitchen, viewing an eCookbook? Or try
cozying up in bed with your child, sharing a story such as Mother Goose, CHARLOTTE'S WEB,
or Harry Potter, with an eBook. Somehow it doesn't have the same effect.
Think about the concept of the book for a minute. Paperback or hardcover, it has weight,
it has mass. You can feel its crisp new pages or luxuriate in the rich, earthy smell of an
old volume. You can read it on the bus on your way to work, or at the beach, on vacation,
in the park at lunch or even (gasp) in la salle de bain. And what about the experience of
coffee table books, oversized art and photography treasures, those funky off-size titles
that are just plain fun to hold and slide through? Try doing that with an eBook.
Think of the hours of pleasure you derived from strolling through a bookstore, you
bibliophile, you, be it a huge chain or a tiny used book shop, hunting for ancient
treasure. Some of my most satisfying finds have come from these small shops. My local
dealer has titles I haven't seen in decades, ones that the larger stores no longer carry
and on-line commerce sites call "out of print." Granted, it's the luck of the
draw, being in the right place at the right time, but that's part of the fun, the
adventure, that eBooks can't touch.
EBooks might have an advantage in that they can offer hyperlinks to other sites, videos,
and multimedia; that might be a tradeoff for some. But must we further complicate what has
been a simple process for eons? An enjoyable respite from the bombardment of everyday
technology (which seems to increase exponentially) should be allowed to remain unfettered.
So, to paraphrase Timothy Leary, turn off, tone out, and pick up a real book.
--- by Ron Kaplan
(c)
Copyright 2001, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
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