The Importance Of Books

http://www.canada.com/technology/story.html?id=3643375

I agree, and absolutely refuse to have an e-reader.

I too prefer books to an e-reader but not for that reason. Lately, I find books too are lower in quality; much like alot of what is on the net. Both will thrive or perish as works of art, depth and sublety depending on whether people cherish that or not and are willing to pursue it.

The problem with e-readers is if it goes wrong, breaks, you loose all your books. Also on some e-readers, the person you bought the e-book from can erase it. You just bought the rights to read it, you don't actually own it to do as you see fit. Also, my friends and I share our discovered treasures, loan them to each other. This is far harder to do with an e-book too.

Perhaps books could be made of something other than trees? To be more environmentally friendly.

Trees are renewable- we can farm them quite easily -it's more of the environmental impact of pulp mills that bothers me...but the Swedes already have closed loop systems that don't pollute the water. We can make paper out of other things like hemp.
Hemp is an amazing plant ! The cloth and paper made from it are superior to what we are used to, but the political resistance against allowing it to be grown in North America is stupidly keeping it out of our hands. I love the feel of hemp clothing, and it lasts so much longer than cotton.
One of the great things about paper books that we risk losing with e-readers, is the low cost of used books, and as a result, being able to pass them on, or leave them for other people to find and enjoy.
For me there is something wonderful about the feel of a book in my hands, the feel of the paper, the smell, and most importantly for someone with light sensitive eyes, the nice contrast of the letters on an off-white or grey page. I have trouble with the brightness of computer screens, and the e-readers I have looked at so far just aren't s nice as the printed page...plus no batteries are required ever with books

I was thinking hemp as one of many alternatives. Good point about a closed loop pulp mill. The sad fact is, much logging of our national resources is solely for paper and it is unnecessary.

But ebooks run on batteries, another huge waste (good point too), and ebooks are not environmentally friendly to produce nor discard when they break or become (inevitably) obsolete.

I preper a page too due to light sensitivity.

melodiccolor wrote:I was thinking hemp as one of many alternatives. Good point about a closed loop pulp mill. The sad fact is, much logging of our national resources is solely for paper and it is unnecessary.

But ebooks run on batteries, another huge waste (good point too), and ebooks are not environmentally friendly to produce nor discard when they break or become (inevitably) obsolete.

I preper a page too due to light sensitivity.

It depends, MC, on various things - I've mentioned in the past I've had a challenge with compulsive hoarding. I have a three-pound computer and a 19" LED television/monitor(LED televisions use less electricity and are also more friendly to the environment than other kinds of backlighting, which usually contain mercury). I also own a so-called "pocket computer," which does have a few movies, television shows, books and over 200 songs. Everything is backed up to the desktop, and I'm planning on getting a solar charger for the pocket device.

Eventually, I'd like to get both a Kindle and an iPad. The Kindle is easier on your eyes, and the iPad would be more a personal media device for movies, etc., along with email and net-surfing.

As to losing your e-books, that depends upon the publisher. O'Reilly Media (not sure of their exact name) publishes technical books. Once you purchase an e-book from them, you are allowed to download it from their site in multiple formats for as long as they are around. And they've already been around for a long while - at least for a tech publisher.

So for me, 15 or so pounds of electronic equipment is much preferable to the alternative, though I own paper books as well.

Here's another great reason I will continue to buy books, cd's and other hard copy media: Should you have a right to sell your ebooks and digital music? (lnk) This may focus on US law, but it has international implications.