No! I Won't Use An e-Reader!
I love books, whether electronic or paper. I’ll read on my Kindle or a “regular” book, whatever’s available.
But I’ve heard many people refuse to use an e-reader. It’s the usual mantra about loving the “feel” or “smell” of paper, or the love of “holding a real book in my hands.” I too, have those feelings but they haven’t precluded me from using an e-reader. After all, one reading medium doesn’t rule out using the other.
So why do some people refuse--absolutely reject--the idea of using an e-reader. It’s not that they’re knuckle-draggers because they often have smart phones, iPads, iPods, computers, use Skype and other high tech devices. So what exactly causes them to spurn this one technology?
I’ve thought about it as a psychiatrist. Maybe it’s the fact that reading is something cultivated over the course of a lifetime, often beginning in childhood. Many book-lovers were read to as children--by a parent, babysitter, or some other adult.
“Read me a story” is something most of us can relate to if we think back to our earliest times. It becomes embedded in our psyches as a distinct childhood pleasure. It’s loaded with meaning, and the experience is suffused with smell memories of paper, the look and feel of a book, and the other mental, emotional and bodily sensations that accompany being read to as a child.
Perhaps some people refuse to “give up” those earliest sensory and emotional memories, and view e-readers as a renunciation of one of life’s early pleasures. I’m just saying.
Mark Rubinstein,
Author, “Mad Dog House” (October 2012)
But I’ve heard many people refuse to use an e-reader. It’s the usual mantra about loving the “feel” or “smell” of paper, or the love of “holding a real book in my hands.” I too, have those feelings but they haven’t precluded me from using an e-reader. After all, one reading medium doesn’t rule out using the other.
So why do some people refuse--absolutely reject--the idea of using an e-reader. It’s not that they’re knuckle-draggers because they often have smart phones, iPads, iPods, computers, use Skype and other high tech devices. So what exactly causes them to spurn this one technology?
I’ve thought about it as a psychiatrist. Maybe it’s the fact that reading is something cultivated over the course of a lifetime, often beginning in childhood. Many book-lovers were read to as children--by a parent, babysitter, or some other adult.
“Read me a story” is something most of us can relate to if we think back to our earliest times. It becomes embedded in our psyches as a distinct childhood pleasure. It’s loaded with meaning, and the experience is suffused with smell memories of paper, the look and feel of a book, and the other mental, emotional and bodily sensations that accompany being read to as a child.
Perhaps some people refuse to “give up” those earliest sensory and emotional memories, and view e-readers as a renunciation of one of life’s early pleasures. I’m just saying.
Mark Rubinstein,
Author, “Mad Dog House” (October 2012)
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Niki
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Nov 15, 2012 09:00AM
I think most people who refuse to use an e-reader have never tried one. The convenience of being able to change the size of the font, the light small size and the ability to read when light isn't optimum makes it worth a try.
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I agree with Niki. One of my family members was disappointed when I bought a Kindle, but after she tried mine she bought one for herself. And the ability to adjust font size is so important for the elderly or anyone who has trouble reading small print.
By using a Kindle I've, no doubt, put off using reading glasses for a few years. It's certainly practical and doesn't preclude reading a paper book.
