Wednesday, January 18, 2012

By Book or by Nook



I am a big reader! my Father was a PRINTER.(so was Ben Franklin)  Although having a thin kindle(or nook etc) to hold with my wrist missing bones etc. would be easier, and less painful than holding up a book at night to read; I will never own one!

I truly believe some technology is going too far. Craig Ferguson (who I adore), often makes a comment about a book or a newspaper, "for all you young people out there, a newspaper is a long, papery blog" (basically the same thing as the books)

There is nothing cozier to me, than seeing a shelf full of good reads in someone's home, or a complete wall of books (as in my LR...and then some, LOL) The ones on the shelves are either compilations or complete works or reference books. my 'mindless' reading...though I hate that term, are in boxes in the computer room, if I plan on keeping them to read again (mostly Dean Koontz, James Patterson, John Sanford, Patricia Cornwell and a few others).

picture from coastal living magazine

Books to me, mean "home", as much as a cozy throw over the back of the couch, and fur babies.



I also think books show signs of intelligence, and the eagerness to learn, explore, discover.

Yes you can read these things on electronic devices, BUT...
has anyone stopped to think about the collapse it will lead to? Look at "Borders"...NATIONWIDE CLOSURE!!

Less people working for publishing houses, printers  and printing presses no longer needed...lots of humans losing their jobs, their livelihoods.  I think it is a crying shame, that NO ONE thinks about that when they come up with this stuff.


 Now for a quick aside:
 **Large scale printing press...My Dad worked in this atmosphere most of his life for a large textbook company; (they may have made other books as well, I'm not sure...but I remember being so proud in the 5th grade bragging to everyone that our "Social Studies" books were printed by my father) "American Book"
**When we moved south (I was 13...1973) he went to work for a "Mom & Pop" printing company; "Bird Letter Service" and he worked on , the ever popular "A B Dick" printing presses, later on my 2nd (present hubby) worked with my dad for about 9 months or so as an apprentice, and he enjoyed it.


Just like those robotic voices on the other end of the phone asking you to please press "1" etc.  There used to be a lady or 2 doing those jobs, fielding phone calls, and sending them on to the right person.

Maybe I am old fashioned but I'll take a real book (even if after a few chapters I have to stop and rest my hand and wrist) over an electronic gadget for reading any day or night.

I also prefer my phone call being answered by a voice that is controlled by neurons and a pulse to that of a computer chip!

How about you?


all images found on google images.

6 comments:

Star said...

I do love my books, but I have a Kindle and I absolutely love it, too, for many different reasons. First (and most important) is space. I read about a book a day, or every 2 days since I started crafting and have less time for reading. I also have a very, very small house. I don't have a lot of room to store the hundreds of books I read every year. Having my Kindle saves me all of that space. Second, I have come across numerous indie authors that release their publications as e-books because they cannot get a traditional publishing company to work with them. Yes, sometimes the stories are not that great, but sometimes the writing is so fabulous and so engrossing I cannot believe anyone in a traditional publishing company would pass them up. Third, I used to have to carry 2 or more books in my purse while I was out for the day or at work because I might finish my book and have nothing left to read. Now when I finish, I can just start the next one in line. There are many other reasons I love my Kindle, but I don't want to leave TOO long of a comment. =D Sometimes I feel that it's not the e-book vs. DTB (dead tree book) that is causing bookstores to close, but the fact that it seems no one reads for fun any more. (Out of all my friends, only 2 or 3 actually read for pleasure.) That's another debate, though. =D

As for the telephone being answered by a person vs. a machine...I completely agree with you!

AlphaBetsy said...

I am a die hard book in hand person, but I am seriously considering an e-book reader for a number of reasons. As the above comment stated a lot of indie writers are coming out exclusively as e-books. Also if you are a traveler the idea of carrying the nook sounds a lot better than carrying 3-5 books, which is my norm.

Toriz said...

How about me? Well...

Quite simply, the only reason I'm so greatful to books in audio and electronic forms is because it's greatly expanded the number of books available to the visually impaired, and greatly decreased the amount of space required to store books for the visually impaired (braille books take up a LOT of space).

I have to say though... I miss real books! You just can't beat the smell of a good book, and the feeling of curling up with said book; "proper" books are the thing I've missed most since losing my sight.

Toriz said...

P.S. I completely agree about the phone thing; I hate all the machines answering the phone. I think humans have come to rely too much on technology, and the way it's taking over so many jobs is among the reasons for the large number of unemployed people these days. Not the only reason - there are a few reasons, which I wont go in to here - but it's definately a large contributing factor, I think.

Gorse Auto Detailing said...

Hi Susan.
I just wanted to stop in to say "Hi" and to let you know you have a new follower!
As a recently-relocated resident of PA, I can tell you that there are some good benefits to the e-readers. I have BOXES FULL of books and they have all been relegated to a stack in the downstairs closet, because the layout of our new place just doesn't have the room for my enormous book shelves! :(
Both my boys (ages 9 & 10) got e-readers from Santa because they told me they actually MISS reading, since all the books are packed up!
Sometimes, progress can be a good thing! (-:
But you're right, there's nothing like curling up with a good book, the heavy, hardbound, paper variety!

Stacie

Fairfield House said...

Susan,

As you know, I adore books! We have an entire wall of floor to ceiling shelves filled with our favorites. They were my safe place and favorite friends during childhood. Although Thomas is a 'techie' he prefers the written word. Technology has it's place -- if not for us reading each others blogs, we'd never have connected with so many creative, clever people! I agree with you, I prefer the human connection that is missing in so much of life today -- printed books and telephone operators included.

Your Friend,
Deborah