"Turning the Page on Technology" by TEE Shots (Senior Writer Tom Embrey)

Turning the Page on Technology

January 25, 2010

It's late January and I finally got my Christmas present. An e-book reader from a large chain bookstore (hope that tells you enough without giving them free advertising).

It came Friday and I spent much of the weekend fiddling with it. It took about three hours to get out of the hermetically sealed, child-proof case.

But I digress.

For an old-school book reader the technology is very cool, yet very uncomfortable. I like the fact that I can carry thousands of books in a device the size of a restaurant menu. Think of the shelf space I am going to save.

But I am still quite sure I am going to miss the opportunity to turn the pages of a book. There is something familiar that I will miss about cracking open a good book with well-worn cover and dog-eared pages and then crashing in a big comfy chair and reading away a rainy day.

Clicking, tapping, and scrolling on the trusty e-ready isn't the same.

And what am I going to do with those subscription cards that annoyingly fall out of magazines. Oh, yeah. With my e-reader, I can get magazines delivered digitally too.

Another crisis averted. I was worried they'd end up in a box in the attic with all my cassette tapes and CDs. And that box is quite full.

Kidding aside, if anyone has some good book recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

CSmithson 3 years, 3 months ago

I got an e-book reader for Christmas too. I love the convenience and ergonomics of the lightweight, thin device. The price of books is nice too, especially when many are free.

Also really cool is the fact that you can download the reader software to your computer and iPhone. Any book you buy is readable on those devices too. Thanks to connectivity through the cell phone system, the main server "knows" the last page you read. That means if I am waiting for an appointment, etc., I can open the book on my phone and it automatically goes to the spot where I stopped reading it on my e-book reader the night before. As long as the "Big Brother" implications don't scare you, it's a pretty cool feature.

jkrahnert3 3 years, 3 months ago

Love my Kindle. The newspaper subscription feature is awesome ... get the NYT downloaded automatically every morning.

CSmithson 3 years, 3 months ago

NYT!!! Don't you get all the news you need from the Pilot?

fwm2 3 years, 3 months ago

Tommy,

For high brow entertainment via the crime genre....Elmore Leonard is a master...try "Maximum Bob", "Pronto" or "Freaky Deaky" to get started

Modern High Lit...I like Michael Chabon...."The Adventures of Cavalier and Klay" is my favorite by him.

Also one Steinbeck novel that is highly underrated and not read enough is "The Wayward Bus,"

I got lots more but I will stop there for now,

As for me and e-books I think it is a great innovations, especially if it gets people to read more...but as for me, well I I am way too far into my "hard-copy" collection of paperbacks, hard covers and mags to stop now...

Ask, Faith she can tell you all about that...lol

faith 3 years, 3 months ago

I know that's right.

rsniranjan 3 years, 3 months ago

I am sure the comfort of using something so sleek and lightweight is good - (used a friend's). Call me old fashioned if you will, but I prefer good old paper! After a long day of staring at LCD and LED screens on computers or TV, reading a book is a relief from the glare and the molecular energy discharge from the LCD. I am not trying to put down technology here. Just that there are times when I like the simplicity of yesteryears.