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Friday, March 11, 2011
Paper or Plastic?
Today's question:
Do you prefer to read books (actual, physical paper ones) or do you prefer your Kindle (or other comparable portable electronic device) and why?
I prefer dead-tree format. I can't curl up comfortably with my laptop, and certainly not with my desktop. My Android phone has multiple ebook apps but I only use that when stranded sans paper books. My mother has a Kindle but I don't like it, since to have a page that takes more than 15 seconds to read, I have to make the font teeny-tiny. If I'm going to turn pages frequently I want to have real pages to turn!
Also, a quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode "I Robot, You Jane" in season 1:
"Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell... musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is... it has no texture, no context. It's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible. It should be, um... smelly." -Giles
...and I quite love the smell of old books. Actually, BPAL (blackphoenixalchemylab.com) made a perfume oil that smells like that; it's named after the Buggre Alle This Bible from the book _Good Omens_ (by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman). Both BPAL and the book are excellent!
Oh dear, I've totally gone on a tangent about one of my favourite subjects. Hope you don't mind terribly!
Just to get this discussion rolling...I say that one day there will be no such thing as a paper book and that there will be a time in the next 8 years that authors will no longer publish in print. Thoughts?
I prefer dead-tree format. I can't curl up comfortably with my laptop, and certainly not with my desktop. My Android phone has multiple ebook apps but I only use that when stranded sans paper books. My mother has a Kindle but I don't like it, since to have a page that takes more than 15 seconds to read, I have to make the font teeny-tiny. If I'm going to turn pages frequently I want to have real pages to turn!
ReplyDeleteAlso, a quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode "I Robot, You Jane" in season 1:
"Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell... musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is... it has no texture, no context. It's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible. It should be, um... smelly." -Giles
...and I quite love the smell of old books. Actually, BPAL (blackphoenixalchemylab.com) made a perfume oil that smells like that; it's named after the Buggre Alle This Bible from the book _Good Omens_ (by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman). Both BPAL and the book are excellent!
Oh dear, I've totally gone on a tangent about one of my favourite subjects. Hope you don't mind terribly!
Physical books. You can hold them, you can show them off on bookshelves, and Kindles don't smell like books.
ReplyDeleteJust to get this discussion rolling...I say that one day there will be no such thing as a paper book and that there will be a time in the next 8 years that authors will no longer publish in print. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
ReplyDelete