I had a chat with one of my co-workers the other day about the idea of a library without print books and materials. The electronic age is undoubtedly here whether or not we like it. We're becoming more dependent on the Internet and electronic devices for information, job searching, and communication. Over two years ago in another post, I stated that I wasn't completely sold on e-readers and e-books, and I have to say that I'm still of the same opinion today. I haven't been fully swayed to the electronic side. Yet.
Call me old school, but I enjoy the visceral experience of a print book. I like the weight of a book in my hand, the feel of the pages, the smell of the paper and the ink. I like flipping the pages between my fingers. When I go to a library or bookstore, I'm like a kid in the candy store looking at the colorful book cover designs, perusing the arrangement of the displays, and picking up those smooth rectangular gems of knowledge and storytelling. Somehow, scrolling through a list of titles with small accompanying icons on a computer screen just doesn't do the same thing for me as walking through the stacks.
I imagine the growing emergence of e-books is akin to the debut of print books. I wonder whether people (the few who were literate way back when) had a difficult time adapting to print books after scrolls were used for so long. Did print books and scrolls exist side by side until print books became less expensive and more practical for use? I wonder whether print books and e-books will exist side by side now for a time until e-readers become more universally compatible?
What do you think? Do you want to have a choice between reading a print book or an e-book? Or do you want to move forward and read e-books exclusively?
Very yours truly, having one hand on a book and another on the computer at the perch.
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