Saturday October 11th, 2008
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Get Ready for Eco-Friendly e-Books
Posted by Su Avasthi on November 14, 2006 - 10:45pm.
Call me old-fashioned, but I love books and everything about them.
I love their musty smell, crisp fonts, and the weight of the paper as I turn the pages. I also love being able to make notes in the margin, fold down the corner to bookmark my page, and crack it open until a crease appears along its spine. I like poking around my friends' bookshelves. I like browsing through bookstores so I can judge them by their covers.
So I'm not exactly thrilled by the news that e-readers might soon emerge as the next new must-have gadgets. While I appreciate that e-books will save our forests by cutting back on our paper usage, I'm not sure I'm ready to curl up with a mug of hot tea and the latest trendy new gadget.
Nonetheless, business forecasters predict that e-readers could reshape the way we read, much like iPods and MP3 players changed how we listen to music.
E-readers are similar to iPods and MP3 players in lots of ways. They're light, portable, and can hold entire libraries. You can buy the book you want online and download it to your e-reader. Sony's new Portable Reader sells for $350, and it is currently on back-order. Their store already has more than 10,000 titles and they plan to sell each book for about 25 percent less than it would cost at the bookstore.
Years ago, a techie friend explained the concept to me, and we laughed about how there was no way that people would go for it. Too hard on the eyes, we decided. Too cold, too sterile, too high-tech, too slick and modern when you just want to settle into the world of Jane Austen, Harry Potter, or Stephen King.
The screen issue seems to be solved by some cool new technology that insures an easy-to-use, easy-on-eyes display that has impressed the critics. And thanks to iPods, most of us now appreciate the charms of having an entire library at our disposal.
I'm not sure that it'll be enough to sway all diehard book lovers. But if the price drops, the prospect of helping the environment might convince me to give an e-reader a whirl, especially if I'm buying books about helping the environment.
How about you?
Reading like that is waaaay too hard on the eyes. And can we talk about what exactly is so wrong about the old fashioned way and why this would be better? Books are already extremely portable and light enough (usually), and most people who like to read probably also agree that the aesthetic and physical pleasures of holding a book in one's hands aids the experience.
Best of all, there are millions of older editions of hundreds of thousands of books already in print--no paper waste there. As for new books, the simple solution is for the publishing industry to switch to post-consumer recycled paper, right?
I agree as well.
However, I took exception when you wrote:
"Nonetheless, business forecasters predict that e-readers could reshape the way we read, much like iPods and MP3 players changed how we listen to music."
MP3 players are also changing the way we read books, by having our books read to us.
I work at Blackstone Audiobooks (http://www.blackstoneaudio.com), and our business has been booming thanks to digital downloads. Websites like Audible.com (http://www.audible.com) have given people the ability to download entire books onto their MP3 player to listen to while they jog.
Audio books also conserve the use of paper and save our forests.
Yet there is comfort in reading a book in bed before you go to sleep. I cannot deny that . . .
Support the Environmental Economy.
I have one of these gadgets. We also have about 3,000 books in our home. As much as I love the physical pleasure of holding a book in my hands, I must admit I love this portable reader too. Mine is in my purse or briefcase and it's nice to have lots of books to choose from in one slim little volume. I read it when I'm in line or at work during a break. I have found that it is easy on my eyes because you can change the size of the print. My husband is a techie and always likes to try the latest thing so I get the benefit too. I like this portable reader for the same reason I like my iPod...you can take everything with you no matter where you're going.
Karla
K. P. Fears
" Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?" - Friedrich Nietzsche