Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Real Books Won't Die Out Anytime Soon

Kevin DeYoung writes well on this issue. I find myself agreeing with him completely when he writes:
The other problem with ebooks is their bland sameness. This is why I can’t make it much farther than two books on any electronic device. The books don’t feel like anything. The font is the same and the white space is the same. There is no variance in paper or size or weight. Each book, when read on an ereader, loses its personality. I can’t quite explain it, but I simply couldn’t read the new Jeeves and Wooster book I downloaded for my iPad. On my computer screen–looking and feeling like the last book I read–there was no joy in Wodehouse, no novelty, no new experience to be had. It was just another PDF or Word document sent my to inbox.
Read the rest. 

He touches here on the whole sensory experience that is found in reading a real book. The touch, smell, look, and feel. That is hard to replicate on an iPad. I think in the future there will be much room for both models and both models will have their specific uses.

1 comment:

M&M in Japan said...

That's why you need a Kindle, Zach! Seriously though... I don't get bored of reading on it. It is just so nice to read on, take anywhere and flip pages while doing other things. If I really want to change the font I can do that too. Don't get me wrong, I like books too but I really like my Kindle.