So, recently I picked up a fancy phone that can do so many tricks, my dog is out of work. One of the apps I have for it is a Kindle reader. The phone screen is large enough that it makes reading easy, but now that I have downloaded quite a few books to it, I began wondering about digital copies verse physical ones.
What do I like about the Kindle? Well, there is something to be said about the convenience in being able to carry around a large amount of books in your pocket. Right now I have about fifty and that would normally take up quite a bit of room. There is also the fact that quite a few of the books I have are very hard to find anywhere as they are out of print and to get a copy requires a fair amount of hunting or a hefty cost. The cost of many of the books I have range from free to $5.99 which is a steal and being a bit of a cheapo due to my "struggling writer" status, cheap is good.
As for print copies, where do I start. I love books. I own somewhere in the range of 300, though I once had closer to 800, but lost many of them during a bad experience. There is nothing quite like holding a book, getting lost in the pages and smelling them as you turn them. Old books and second hand book stores are my Mecca. I have always loved walking into one, never knowing what I am going to find and coming out with a bag or two of treasures. I love standing in front of my bookcase, looking at the rows and rows of books while trying to decide what to read next.
For me, print books will always win over a Kindle. I can share a physical book with a friend, my print copies never run out of battery life and if I happen to drop a paperback in the toilet (a man's favorite place to read), it's not $100+ down the drain (pun intended). And as a writer, nothing gives me more joy that to see one of my books, or a book I am featured in, sitting on a bookshelf or in a store among people I consider heroes of mine. When I first went into my local library and saw At the Gates of Madness on display with Stephen King, Elmore Leonard and others, it was one of the best days in my writing life.
If the world as a whole moves toward the digital books, I wonder what will happen to libraries and the bookshops I love. I think of all those years spent in both, looking for new adventures to go on, the experience of looking and hunting was just as great as the book itself. I personally think we would do future generations a disservice to move all in on the digital format. It's fine to move forward, but sometimes you have to turn back a few pages to see what you might have missed.