It was funny when I read this comic sunday.....I had just been thinking over the weekend...after seeing one of these on sale in the paper.....
There very well may be a time, when our children or their children's children, do not open a real honest to goodness bound book. Their is realistically in the horizon a book-less world. My children already have no idea what the card catalogue is, or the Dewey Decimal System is. I can remember in Elementary school, and Jr High, going into the library and learning how to use the card catalgue, flipping through those little cards sorted by title , author or topic, and learning the DDS so I could help shelve books. We had to write down on a piece of scrap paper, the call numbers for the books we needed for our research
or that we wanted to read, and go in search of them.
Now the computer will tell them what they need, print it out, and even point them to the correct aisle. Heaven forbid no one does research in the library anymore. The internet is a wealth of immediate gratification.
Long gone are the days of pulling out Funk and Wagnalls, photocopying the pages you needed,
and returning those heavily bound volumes to the shelves.
Eventually, all books may even be available electronically....
where is the fun in that?
More screen time.
No binding to listen to crack for the first time when you get a new book?
No wonderful freshly printed smell.
Am I the only one that loves the library?
All those possibilities.
All the books yet unread.
The smell.
The hushed tones of everyone.
Explains my love affair with Barnes and Nobles, the fresh ink smell, fresh crisp magazines, yummy soft chairs just begging to be sat upon,
legs folded under to dive into a newly purchased book.
What are we going to pull out the little electronic book to read to our two year olds?
Not sure this would be progress or not.
I personally can barely stand reading an entire email on the large screen in front of me, let alone teeny tiny print on an electronic screen the size a large index card!
A world without books would be heartbreaking. The joy of reading has no age limits or even financial barriers considering that libraries are free.
Let's all pray it never gets to the point where books cease to exsist.
That would be a very sad day indeed.
or that we wanted to read, and go in search of them.
Now the computer will tell them what they need, print it out, and even point them to the correct aisle. Heaven forbid no one does research in the library anymore. The internet is a wealth of immediate gratification.
Long gone are the days of pulling out Funk and Wagnalls, photocopying the pages you needed,
and returning those heavily bound volumes to the shelves.
Eventually, all books may even be available electronically....
where is the fun in that?
More screen time.
No binding to listen to crack for the first time when you get a new book?
No wonderful freshly printed smell.
Am I the only one that loves the library?
All those possibilities.
All the books yet unread.
The smell.
The hushed tones of everyone.
Explains my love affair with Barnes and Nobles, the fresh ink smell, fresh crisp magazines, yummy soft chairs just begging to be sat upon,
legs folded under to dive into a newly purchased book.
What are we going to pull out the little electronic book to read to our two year olds?
Not sure this would be progress or not.
I personally can barely stand reading an entire email on the large screen in front of me, let alone teeny tiny print on an electronic screen the size a large index card!
A world without books would be heartbreaking. The joy of reading has no age limits or even financial barriers considering that libraries are free.
Let's all pray it never gets to the point where books cease to exsist.
That would be a very sad day indeed.
1 comment:
Sorry, Andi, but I'm the Kindle Witness, here. Have you heard The Good News about the Kindle? Have you invited The Kindle into your heart?
The Hub surprised me with a K2 right before we left for FLA last March. (Yeah. He's really the Best.) I suspect that he was tired of lugging all my books with us on vacay, as well as finding the local bookstore when we read through every book I brought. Five months later, it's a very well-traveled Kindle.
I have curled up in a big chaise on the Gulf and read Jane Austen. I've dived into a big squishy bed and plowed my way through Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire novels one rainy day in June.
I love it with a deep and passionate love which will never die. Because I love to read, and I devour books. The delivery method doesn't matter to me.
To put things in perspective,after about three years, I have about 75 songs on my ipod. Within a week of getting my kindle, I had 75 books downloaded. Some people need music. I need literature.
Any book in the public domain is a free download, and it gets delivered wirelessly within 15 seconds of requesting it. All samples are free, which are usually the first chapter, and by then I know if I want to purchase the book. (Which at $10 for new releases, is a LOT less than the hardback, or trade paperback. PLus, think of the TREES! No paper, no deforestation.)
I never have to wait for a book to come into my local bookstore, nor do I need to be put on a reserve list at the library. I get what I want, and I can figure out if I want to read it immediately.
My only twinge is that my local, independently-owned bookstore might be feeling the pinch even more, not receiving my money for the last couple of months. I still buy certain books from her, like cookbooks, and ones with lots of graphics, but for the most part, it's the best purchase anybody could've made for me, and as soon as the next generation comes out, I'll be in line for it.
P.S. Amazon just acquired Zappo's, for, like, $900 million. I'm daydreaming about the day when I can order all my shoes through the Kindle and have them delivered wirelessly in 15 seconds. Oh and all the Zappo's employees got a free K2 as part of the deal. Sweet.
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