In many ways life is better today than it ever has been. In other ways, not so much. Parse this statement in whatever way you choose.
One area in which I think we’ve declined is our addiction to devices. We check our phones in Pavlovian, notification driven mindlessness. When we’re not incessantly reaching for our Androids or iphones we’re staring at other screens—televisions, laptops, and digital readers.
This last is arguably the least concerning … until the most recent news. I never switched to the Kindle and today I’m feeling vindicated.
I’m not here to brag, just stating the undisputed fact not all change represents progress. Sometimes we regress and must course correct. Or, we realize that tried and true is so for a reason.
Even without Amazon’s incredibly selfish decision to prohibit downloading books you’ve already bought starting Feb. 26, analog books were already a superior option.
I get it, Kindle fans. You’ve got bookmarking and search at your disposal. You can “buy” a book and immediately begin reading while I wait for the mail. When you take an extended vacation you’ve only got a single slim device to manage rather than cargo for the overhead bins.
Good for you. I’m still team paper.
I’m also a digital consumer and user. I’m online, all the time. I have a paid subscription to Spotify. I watch a lot of YouTube content. It’s incredibly convenient to search .PDFs and other e-text for keywords, which I did while writing Flame and Crimson.
But I’m still team paper. Here’s five reasons why:
1. We have enough digital distractions. We don’t need devices to read books when already have a better technology that allows for an undistracted experience. Studies have proven that reading on screens leads to more shallow processing and can hinder reading comprehension.
2. Digital media enables piracy. Musicians can no longer depend on album sales for revenue. Being a full-time author today is almost impossible unless you happen to be Stephen King. Midlist paperback author careers that were a real thing once have been undone for many reasons, but one is digital piracy.
3. Paper is a more durable medium. It isn’t going anywhere, once purchased no one can take it back. Unlike what we’ve seen this week due to corporate greed, and in other instances with bowdlerization (see point 5). I have a couple books on my shelves more than a hundred years old… your e-reader will be outdated in less than a decade and you’ll forced to upgrade.
4. You don’t actually own anything with digital based subscriptions. I’ve had songs disappear off Spotify. Kindle owners have had titles removed. George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm were taken back by Amazon when a rights issue arose (the irony of these particular titles should not be lost on anyone). I’ve got Orwell, in paper, and there they stay on my shelf.
5. Censorship and/or lesser forms of content neutering are real. Given our grandstanding need to prove our moral superiority over previous generations by removing “problematic” elements like fictitious evil monsters from D&D I have no faith that a future publisher will not do the same to new editions of my old favorites. Denude them, round off every sharp corner and push them toward some bland middle of sameness, in an attempt to avoid offense. Which is fruitless, given that someone, somewhere is offended all the time. And probably will be offended by this post. Lest you think I’m just picking on the left, take a look at Florida.
In summary I’ll keep my paper books. Unlike digital slop they have edges that can cut.
6 comments:
I prefer audiobooks to e-books and e-books to paper books. The points you raise are very valid, though.
But if we buy real books and are betters can't censor content we would have to start acting like thinking adults!
I prefer the experience of reading paper books and buy way too many of them. But I also buy a ton of Kindle books too for the convenience you mention, particularly to read in bed at night without having to resort to a book light and risk bothering my wife. I don't really understand the uproar about the Amazon decision though. It isn't likely to impact the majority of users who never physically downloaded the books anyway (like me). It's just one more thing for everyone to get upset about, especially when it involves an easy-to-hate corporate villain. For me personally, the convenience, lower cost (usually), and immediacy of Kindle books overcomes the unfortunate aspects such as only licensing content rather than actually owning it.
I'm also on team paper. I've only ever bought one ebook, and that was because that was the only format it was available in and I promptly bought the print version once that became available. That said, I do enjoy audiobooks, albeit mostly for lighter fair or books I've already read and want to revisit.
In my youth I used to visit every used book store in town at least once a month.
I've got 35 books piled up by my reading chair right now. You could say I'm on Team Paper. However, there are a few advantages to digital books that need to be mentioned.
• You can adjust the print size -- no small thing when you are no longer young.
• Digital versions of out-of-copyright books, even obscure titles, are plentiful and inexpensive. You can obtain the complete works of all major and most minor writers up through the first quarter of the 20th century for a dollar or two per omnibus collection.
• Amazon is not the only game in town. I check Standard Ebooks daily, for instance. Their editions work on Kindles, and I don't have to constantly re-download them.
• There is a certain satisfaction to throwing a crummy book across the room that is not available with a digital book.
Um, the last point is actually a further advantage of paper.
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