Kindles and the future of books

Congratulations. By reading these words you have proved that you are literate. That or you have a text to speech program. In that case get off your lazy ass and learn to read (my apologies to the blind). However, this simple form of reading is the most that the average human does nowadays. I’m not calling you stupid, I’m calling you lazy, but that’s fine, as most are. The vast majority will use their extensive learning ability to read signs or funny blog posts with little informative matter. That’s how things are right now, only reading four or five books a year, probably the same books you read last year.

As the brunt of this post will be discussing how this miraculous little machine changed my life (hand how I believe it will change other’s), it only makes sense to explain to you myself. I love to read. By the age of 14 I had already finished all of Asimov’s science fiction novels, was busy plowing through Clark’s, and was already testing the waters of other writers in anticipation for this current source drying up. I’m not bragging, I’m saying that as a child I read. I read a lot, I read all the time. My teachers complained of my continuous reading. I made significant headway into “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire”, not that I understood what the hell was going on, I just loved reading so much that I just read it. So of course when I entered high school I went from a hundred books a year to about four. Why? Simple. High school is more difficult, and while I still had plenty of time to read, I felt my time more expensive. I felt it silly to start on a book of unknown quality while I could be studying, or, as it turned out, messing around on the computer, the difference is that it takes more effort to read. A computer is right there, I put in a website, and I stare at it for hours on end until I finish, many websites are never ending, if I enjoy it I simply continue on. If I decide half way I dislike a book, I can not simply hit back and try another, I must run to the library to grab another. Short of maintaining an expansive library —I do in a way, but full of previously-read books—, I saw no way to fix this. The books I did read came from my library, as they were close and I know how good they were. There was, at the time, no solution.

The Kindle is a game changer. All the benefits of the computer, of mucking around on reddit or stumbleupon, but with subsidence. If I dislike a book it takes but a moment to find another. The Kindle itself is smaller and lighter then a conventional book, thus I carry it everywhere. When I complete a book I am not left with a teaser of the next book by the author, but with a list of similar books I may enjoy. It’s stupendous. The Kindle has all the benefits of the computer, but with subsidence. I subside off science fiction. It fuels my mind. The internet gives me entertainment, but a good book makes me think and dream. Additionally, The Kindle is great as you can carry hundreds of books with you at any time. When you desire a specific books you need not search through bookcases, you can just read it. Kindles are not perfect, however. Some fear the downfall of the normal library, of the halls of dust tombs of knowledge. It’s easy to harbor such romantic feelings of this image, library have been in existence since writing was invented. However, technology must progress. Doubtless people lamented the loss of wooden ship in favor of metal, however it was necessary to continue advancement of sailing technology. Same goes for plays; The television made them obsolete. They still exist nonetheless, only in much smaller numbers. In this way physical books will exist, one’s favorite text will share your mantle with your candles and record player, not forgotten but not the star of the show. This is necessarily to keep track with the computer, which has changed us into spontaneous people low zero attention span.

I, too, will lament the loss of our oldest form of physical media. But there is no choice. Adapt or die.