David J. Loehr, a playwright who lives in southern Indiana, was taking his car to the dealership when a story on the radio caught his attention. A short science piece about "an obscure subject" gave him an idea for a new play.
Ordinarily, Loehr would have had to make do with jotting down some notes or trying to remember his inspiration. But since he had his iPad with him, he bought a few books on the subject and downloaded them as soon as he got to the dealership. He started his research for the play right there, while his car was being serviced.
"I can have all that research on a single tablet instead of carrying around 40 books," Loehr said.
Welcome to the future of books, where your entire library is as portable as a cellphone.
Like several of the people in the story, I haven't given up on physical books. But I'm much more likely to take a chance on an author I don't know or a book that I wouldn't necessarily read again with my Kindle because the books are cheaper and they don't add to my already immense clutter. I've actually bought a couple of books in hardback after buying them on the Kindle, because I did like them that much. Plus there are so many free classics, or collections of an author's work (like Dickens, Twain, or Welles, all of which I have) for a pittance. For less than $5 I bought all 15 Wizard of Oz books and am working my way through them, rather than having to track them all down and get the same matching editions. That sort of thing.
Plus, I've discovered that I read a little differently on the Kindle, smoother somehow. I go through books faster, without losing comprehension. I tend not to jump as much on the page, and at the end of the day, when my eyes are a little tired and my bifocal contacts a bit bleary, I can crank the size of the text up and it's easier to read. It's very portable, and as they point out, you can sync across devices. I can also read on the bus, whereas pages jostling add a dimension of movement that tends to make me motion-sick. So there are a lot of pluses. I once was so engrossed in a book on the Kindle that I totally forgot
I was on an electronic reader and tried to turn the corner of the Kindle like a page.
That said, I love books. I love the feel, the smell. I can't imagine not having access to them. And they don't require batteries. There are good and bad things about each kind of book, but I think a mix is the way to approach things, for me. I still buy both types, after all, and I check out physical books from the library and I'm excited that I should soon be able to check out books for my Kindle, too.
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