Bruce Beckham's Blog - Posts Tagged "e-reader"
Dreaming of a Paperwhite Christmas?
In the UK, leading bookseller Waterstones has recently discontinued the Kindle from its stores.
Personally, I have always found it curious that the device was merchandised alongside real books in the first place. Isn’t it a kind of Trojan horse? At best it misreads the customer’s very motivation for visiting a wonderful bookstore.
Now, before I say any more, I ought to confess that my author’s colours are pinned firmly to the Kindle mast. Were it not for Kindle, there would be no Bruce Beckham, no Inspector Skelgill.
But I prefer to read real books, and do so at every opportunity. I love to be surrounded by them in my study. I can’t imagine how the room would look with just a lonely Kindle propped on a shelf. (Tidy, I suppose.)
However, the Kindle (or e-reader generally) does have its advantages. And in a small way I am a convert.
Preeminent among these benefits is finding one’s way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. (You need one with a backlit screen.) Having a youngest daughter that randomly camps on our bedroom floor in the early hours, such a device is a great boon.
You can read in the dark without disturbing your partner, and when you drop off the screen shuts down and it remembers your page. (Unless you do ‘sleep reading’ like me, when you continue to ‘swipe’ despite being otherwise unconscious.)
And there is the convenience factor. All the books you need for a holiday in a slim volume. Plus the battery seems to last forever, especially compared to today’s greedy mobiles.
So, are we heading for a world without bookshops?
Well, if Waterstones are right, perhaps the tide is beginning to turn. A friend of mine in Edinburgh is going gangbusters with her indie store. And, Christmas is coming.
Today I’ve been panicking and ordering presents galore. Oh, yes – from Amazon. But... the books... I bought real ones. I mean – how can you give an e-book for Christmas?
Well, you can, actually, it’s quite easy – but what I’m saying is an e-book lacks a certain essential gift quality. Call it substance. You can’t wrap it (this is actually a benefit for anyone receiving a gift from me), you can’t cram it in a stocking, and you can’t convey the trouble you’ve gone to (despite, in my case, an inability to chose anything remotely appropriate).
So it has to be solid, rectangular, ergonomically rewarding, artfully designed, functional, and pleasing to receive.
Wait a minute – that sounds like a Kindle Paperwhite!
Personally, I have always found it curious that the device was merchandised alongside real books in the first place. Isn’t it a kind of Trojan horse? At best it misreads the customer’s very motivation for visiting a wonderful bookstore.
Now, before I say any more, I ought to confess that my author’s colours are pinned firmly to the Kindle mast. Were it not for Kindle, there would be no Bruce Beckham, no Inspector Skelgill.
But I prefer to read real books, and do so at every opportunity. I love to be surrounded by them in my study. I can’t imagine how the room would look with just a lonely Kindle propped on a shelf. (Tidy, I suppose.)
However, the Kindle (or e-reader generally) does have its advantages. And in a small way I am a convert.
Preeminent among these benefits is finding one’s way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. (You need one with a backlit screen.) Having a youngest daughter that randomly camps on our bedroom floor in the early hours, such a device is a great boon.
You can read in the dark without disturbing your partner, and when you drop off the screen shuts down and it remembers your page. (Unless you do ‘sleep reading’ like me, when you continue to ‘swipe’ despite being otherwise unconscious.)
And there is the convenience factor. All the books you need for a holiday in a slim volume. Plus the battery seems to last forever, especially compared to today’s greedy mobiles.
So, are we heading for a world without bookshops?
Well, if Waterstones are right, perhaps the tide is beginning to turn. A friend of mine in Edinburgh is going gangbusters with her indie store. And, Christmas is coming.
Today I’ve been panicking and ordering presents galore. Oh, yes – from Amazon. But... the books... I bought real ones. I mean – how can you give an e-book for Christmas?
Well, you can, actually, it’s quite easy – but what I’m saying is an e-book lacks a certain essential gift quality. Call it substance. You can’t wrap it (this is actually a benefit for anyone receiving a gift from me), you can’t cram it in a stocking, and you can’t convey the trouble you’ve gone to (despite, in my case, an inability to chose anything remotely appropriate).
So it has to be solid, rectangular, ergonomically rewarding, artfully designed, functional, and pleasing to receive.
Wait a minute – that sounds like a Kindle Paperwhite!
