by Wendy Ogbourne
“I’m old fashioned
But I don’t mind it”
That’s what the old song says, and that’s pretty much how I feel these days. My heart says “yes, yes”, when I see the picture. Books, books, books, floor to ceiling, stacked in piles, overflowing – what could be more old fashioned in today’s world of technology, digital publishing, virtual books, on-line magazines…….
But wait a minute. Isn’t Bonzer! an on-line magazine? Of course it is. And you’re all reading it. But that doesn’t mean we can’t also have a soft spot for the old fashioned printed books as well.
We’re constantly being told these days that printed books, magazines, newspapers will shortly become obsolete. On-line information is cheaper to produce, more up-to-date, more convenient etc. etc. etc. The new Kindle technology will replace all need for books in their current form. Well, what a load of rubbish is all I can say. There’s room for both, and books will never disappear. Can’t have it both ways? Sure I can!
Now we have high-speed broadband, of course I use Google and Wikipedia to do research for the latest information on things I want to know. Using a printed encyclopaedia just doesn’t cut it any more. The world is changing too fast. I look for the latest news updates on-line too. And I opt out of receiving printed copies of newsletters. It’s environmentally sound and just common sense. And of course I enjoy reading Bonzer! But that’s because it’s good.
There’s no way it replaces the old fashioned pleasure that holding an old fashioned paper book in my hands gives me. For pure relaxation, I want a book I can hold, that doesn’t require batteries. An old fashioned book has its own “feel” – a certain “ambience” or “aura” about it – I’m not quite sure what word to use. It’s to do with the cover, the binding, the presentation. And if it’s a book that I own, it also has its own personal history, linked to my own life. When I see that book on the shelf, I can think, “I bought that when I was on holiday – that was a good holiday”, or “that was a present from my good friend”, or “I’ve kept that book because it gave me a lot of pleasure when I first read it”. It’s a bit like old photos – memory triggers. When we buy new books, they have the potential to become part of us in the future. Downloading a book to your Kindle machine? Just not the same.
A trip to the library or a second-hand bookstore has almost the same feel as looking at the books on my own shelves. The books there seem to have absorbed a little of the characters of the people who have owned them or read them before me. A fanciful notion? I guess so, but what’s wrong with that? Too much in today’s world has been sanitised, stripped of sentiment, standardised.
So I guess I’m back where I started. I’m old fashioned. How about you? All those in favour, say “Aye”.
© Wendy Ogbourne, 2009
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Aye! and Aye!
In my reply to your comment on “The Olde Curiosity Shoppe” I said I was seeking a 1901 “Chums Annual.” I didn’t get one, but scored another, later date.
To look at that book, feel it, smell it and then transport one’s self back 100 years (this book was 1910) is something e-books cannot ever achieve.
To scan through a 1930s something (In this case, Wireless) magazine and read about radio of the 30s – Wow!
Still in all, we must make way for modern technology.
If I read an e-book I love, I am compelled to own my own PAPER copy, to have on my own shelf, that I can browse through….not scroll through…to select the book I am going to cuddle up with in bed. My daughters 22 and 25 and fully ‘electronicated’ feel exactly the same. Who wants to cuddle with an e book reader. it would be like sleeping with a robot!
This will sound terribly old fashoined Wendy, but for me a book is almost a living thing. Of course if I’ve picked up a dud, then it has an early death. But I have books back in OZ in storage that I’ve had for forty years. And they get dragged out regularly and the excitement’s still there.
To sit in the sun, a hot bath or out of a chilly wind in a warm spot on an Autumn day with a real live, honest to goodness, collection of pages…yes, and without batteries. Maybe our life’s become to much battery driven.
And then to become completely, utterly immersed in the writing and savour every page…well, maybe that doesn’t have the breathtaking excitement of a Kindle or whatever, but gees…call me old fashioned.
I have never kindled. But when I hear that soon university students will carry around a Kindle with all of their text books therein, I say “Bah.”
Kindle books have no page numbers. So how do you look up a particular subject when studying for an exam? You can’t thumb through the pages either. Of course, you could read the whole damn thing until you find what your are looking for…if you don’t go to sleep in the process.
Coliln
Omigosh! Colin, you’re right. Even keywords won’t be the saving grace. Thank hebben my uni days are done. al
As soon as I read that Amazon had brought out Kindle I had to see what all the fuss was about. Then I discovered that Apple was about to produce the iPad. Why am I so excited? Two reasons. The first is that the books I have collected over the years are taking up too much space in my house. I sold two boxes full last year and could sell more but I’m unsure of the market. The second reason is that e-books will be cheaper, and be more convenient to read than ‘real’ books. I can enlarge the font if I need to at the click of a button. And e-readers won’t hurt writers or publishers. In fact, I predict that the sale of e-books will sky-rocket. Sure they won’t smell like paper books, nor will they speak volumes to me from my bookshelves. But they’ll be convenient, smart, easy to read and handy to hold. I am definitely in favour.
Sorry Alan, I have to take issue with you. I said 25 years ago I would welcome the paperless office. Well, it hasn’t happened and I doubt it will.
When you have papers that need reading and understood, let alone used in meetings, most of us still print them off. Most bosses still have their secretaries (?) print everything and then type their answers. In offices at least, their responses are still pretty staid. Its not changing from paper. I also find it straining to read too much or for too long online.
As for books, I doubt I will ever own an ebook reader, for many of the reasons given above. I have enough electronic contraptions on flights already and usually toss in a paperback at the last moment. That will not change either. Like others, I find books an extension of my arm and too handy to replace, let alone the idea of cuddling up with anything electronic! I also suspect that Apple and others will enforce their own formats just to keep us captive, and paying more. It won’t be a cheaper option in my mind. I think I am happier as a Luddite. We have to make a stand somewhere!