When the Kindle 1 came out, what seems like a thousand centuries ago, I was working in a building that my department had just moved into. There was a large conference room I had never gone into that always had its doors closed, but at times was open enough for me to peak inside. The building had been converted from an old seminary and had some aging yet still impressive wood and stone work inside and out. The conference room, which I had never been in, was probably the most impressive room in the buildings design. Its ceilings were around 15 feet tall and since having been a library for the building was lined with dark brown book cases.
After a few weeks of pushing papers and helping users work through one of the worst computer systems of all time we had a departmental meeting. I showed up to the meeting early, not something I’m accustomed to, and walked into the empty room. I was struck by the breadth of the room instantly and its size made me feel that I was singled out as the only object, aside from a few large tables, in the middle. I sat down in a chair facing the largest of the walls, lined with shelves from waist height to ceiling. There, in the center most shelf, as the only object on any of the shelves, stood a Kindle. No other visual could have instilled in my mind so completely the
absolute change that technology has had on my life than that sight did. An entire library, which could have filled at least 10,000 volumes, reduced to a half inch piece of plastic with its calculator screen standing upright in its leather case.
Considering it was a technology department, I wouldn’t have expected anything less than this sort of exhibition of what the future holds. Within me however, I started to re-evaluate what it would mean for me in the future. It got even worse when I bought a Kindle 2 (which was eventually stolen then replaced by my Kindle iPhone reader
app). I thought to myself, what the hell am I doing with all these books? I’ve never even read half of them and I never will! Look at all the desk/shelf/floor/toilet bowl space they’re taking up!
With time, my enthusiasm for eBooks faded, along with my enthusiasm for the functionality of the Kindle (what a wasted opportunity!) I couldn’t help but think of the philosophic issues eBooks would cause for minimalists. Sure, we won’t need to buy books, we don’t have to use highlighters or bend over pages, we can take 1,000 novels with us on vacation, blah blah. Something however is lost. I can’t lend a book to a friend, or harass them when then lose it/don’t give it back. I can’t get as many paper-cuts. I can’t cover my head with this thing in the rain.
I don’t think anyone can say with authority what all the costs or benefits of having eBooks versus printed books is, but there are definitely trade-offs. Whether it’s being bound to an energy source or not, not straining your eyes in the dark, or worrying about the wind blowing your page over, from experience, I believe that eBooks are the way to go and are definitely worth the investment. I’ve donated at least 60 books to my library since beginning to cut down on my book collection and still feel that I could get by with fewer. This isn’t entirely due to having eBooks, but after you see that you can have any book at your fingertips in less than a minute, you’ll probably want to reevaluate your library, and should pass it on to someone who will utilize the knowledge in it best.
In good conscience can I suggest that someone go out and buy an e-reader? Might they also be a new fad the world is swept up in which will only be replaced in a years time? Probably. If you’ve got a smart phone, download a reader app from Amazon or Apple, or a cool one called Stanza which is much easier on the eyes, try it for yourself. Don’t bother going out and buying an eReader. It’s only worth it if you’re an avid reader, someone able to plow through a couple of books a month. Otherwise, it doesn’t make much economic sense. I don’t want people falling into the same trap I was in with print books either. Buying, not using, putting on the shelf for eternity isn’t healthy, it’s a waste of money and space (be it digital or physical). Remember, if you want to save shelf space, you can always donate your books to a local library, sell them used on Amazon, or trade them with people on sites like
Swaptree,
Booksfreeswap, and
Paperbackswap.com.*
*Other options include book burnings and of course, recycling.