In this age of iPods, PS3's, blogs and HDTV, let us not forget the simple pleasures of the printed word. A book is highly portable, fantastic value (especially if you get it from a charity shop or a library) and wonderfully lo-tech… With a book, you will never have to ring an automated help-line or send it back to the manufacturers to get it repaired. You won't have to sign a contract or be badgered into buying an extended warranty which you will never use. And a book will never disturb your fellow passengers on a train (unless, perhaps, it is a talking book (or you happen to be sharing a carriage with someone who is inordinately disturbed by books)). A book has no battery-life, does not have to be recharged, and is not likely to attract malicious viruses (unless you take it to the centre of a bird-flu epidemic) or spam (unless you read it near the Tesco's meat counter). It has no software compatibility issues. It probably won't electrocute you if you spill a cup of coffee on it or stick a screwdriver in it (although either of the above may render some or all of it unreadable). It does not become obsolete after six months. A book is a friend for life or can be passed down from generation to generation. It can be easily recycled and leaves a very small carbon footprint. It can inspire, entertain and educate. And it will never - never - go bing-digga-ding-digga-bing-ding-ding-bong-ding...
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[ Above piece also features on The Art of Tea ]
Comments
_jacobea_ | October 16, 2007 - 20:54
It is also less likely in this day and age to get confiscated if you go to an airport.
jxmartin | October 19, 2007 - 02:27
Books are a passport for me to the ages. When I see one, I think of the many ideas that are ensconced within. I speculate at the source of the title or the development of the plot, and wonder how I will react to story as it unfolds.
Libraries, or book stores, are warm and inviting places that entice me, beckoning me with many promised hours of transportation to the far reaches of the globe.I have wandered the mind world over many times and always come away enriched immeasurably by the experience.
Maybe the electronic format will one day replace the paper companedium,but it will be a day that I do not long to experience. The tactile feeling, of a book in my hands, is for me the imminent sense of a lauching into the greater beyond. I will hold onto the physical form of a book as long as my grasp permits.
J.X.M
pepsoid | January 19, 2008 - 17:47
Better late than never, but ta for the comments! ;)
pe
ps
oid
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