Books: Print or Electric

All throughout The Shallows, Carr keeps making a point to bring up books in printed form and books in electronic form. According to Carr, we are slowly getting rid of printed copies of books, and will soon only have the electronic versions. Even though I hate to admit it, I agree with Carr. I think that the recent generations, including my own, are taking advantage of the electronics that we have. However, I also think that people, like Carr, are being a bit judgmental about these generations. I personally love books; love the feel, love the scent of them when they’re brand new, love turning the pages, and love the fact that I can read it anywhere. Also, if I were to spill water or food on my book, I would just have to wait for it to dry, or remove the crumbs and I can continue reading normally. I know it seems silly, but those are the things that make me love books even more. With e-readers, like the Kindle or Nook, you don’t get the satisfaction of opening a book for the first time and smelling the new paper, or feeling the different types of pages, or physically turning the pages. Also, if you were to spill water on your Kindle, then it’s very likely that you will need to buy a new one, or send it to a repair shop to get fixed. Kindles are not water friendly. Also, if the battery dies, you have to wait to finish reading or be attached to a wall while you read. With a book, you can bring it anywhere and it’s very unlikely that it will get damaged worse than a page tearing.

            There are benefits to having an e-reader, like saving paper, money on the production of the books, and on buying the books in general, and being able to read in the dark without using a miniature reading light. There are also disadvantages of using books over an e-reader, like the weight of carrying a book around over the slim e-reader, or if you rip a page, and all the money that you spend on books over the cheaper price for the book on an e-reader. Also, searching on an e-reader for a specific point in the book is much easier than looking through an actual book, unless you mark every important or favorite part with a sticky note (which I have done before).

            Overall, yes I do think that books are becoming old fashioned. But I also think that there are plenty of bookworms out there that will prefer using the actual source rather than an electronic version. I know that I am one of those people. I get much more enjoyment and a more fulfilling experience over reading an actual book rather than an e-reader. And I’m going to try and stay away from the e-readers as long as I can. As long as there are books being printed, I will buy them.

~Liz Langelier