Horrifying, isn't it?
Justine and I have discovered something awful. The Book, the world's last bastion against technology, is being turned into a palm-pilot-like-device. I saw it myself at Borders. Sony (and I think a few other companies) has come up with this awkward looking hand-held thing with a screen. You load the 'book' cartridge in the back like a video game. The ONLY benefit is that you can enlarge the type THREE WHOLE SIZES. So yes, people. Spend $200 on the virtual book + however much each book cartridge costs so you can enlarge the print. Do this, people, instead of paying $3.50 on a pair of magnifying glasses they sell at the Christmas Tree Shop, or buying a book with larger print, or simply holding your book a little closer.
Honestly, the print doesn't even get that big. I tested it.
AND the big thing that bothered me was--there's no menu page or place to type in a page number. There were extremely few buttons-- just one to enlarge the type and two to flip the pages either forward or back. So, if you read something and thought, "Hey, I thought they said something different before. Let me check that again," you would have to press the button however many times it takes you to get to the page. Let me tell you, this is going to be a problem if you're reading Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, or any large volume.
Also, most people (including me) hate reading from a screen anyway.
You can't curl up in a chair with a hot drink in front of a roaring fireplace with you book-cartridge-device. COME ON. Where has the joy gone? There's no cover, no artwork, no smooth pages, no bookmark. It's one more thing you'll have to worry about someone stealing. And what's going to happen to libraries? Schools? Are they going to hand out text-book cartridges? Do you know how expensive these things are? What happens if it malfunctions? A book can never malfunction. And if you have to plug it in, what happens if you lose the plug? And if it doesn't use a plug, how long do the batteries last? Are they special batteries? If you shut it off, it doesn't save your spot, either.
I can only hope that people who love to read won't buy these, because they're completely frivolous devices and provide none of the joys of an actual book. I hope people who love to read will scorn these. And I hope people who don't love to read won't bother spending the ridiculous amount for something they won't use, anyway.
I am so outraged. I don't understand why they felt the need to create this. I hope authors won't allow their books to be turned into technology. The only book they used in the display was a Jane Austen novel. I hope it fucking bombs and costs the companies millions of dollars. They deserve it for even attempting this.
Honestly, the print doesn't even get that big. I tested it.
AND the big thing that bothered me was--there's no menu page or place to type in a page number. There were extremely few buttons-- just one to enlarge the type and two to flip the pages either forward or back. So, if you read something and thought, "Hey, I thought they said something different before. Let me check that again," you would have to press the button however many times it takes you to get to the page. Let me tell you, this is going to be a problem if you're reading Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, or any large volume.
Also, most people (including me) hate reading from a screen anyway.
You can't curl up in a chair with a hot drink in front of a roaring fireplace with you book-cartridge-device. COME ON. Where has the joy gone? There's no cover, no artwork, no smooth pages, no bookmark. It's one more thing you'll have to worry about someone stealing. And what's going to happen to libraries? Schools? Are they going to hand out text-book cartridges? Do you know how expensive these things are? What happens if it malfunctions? A book can never malfunction. And if you have to plug it in, what happens if you lose the plug? And if it doesn't use a plug, how long do the batteries last? Are they special batteries? If you shut it off, it doesn't save your spot, either.
I can only hope that people who love to read won't buy these, because they're completely frivolous devices and provide none of the joys of an actual book. I hope people who love to read will scorn these. And I hope people who don't love to read won't bother spending the ridiculous amount for something they won't use, anyway.
I am so outraged. I don't understand why they felt the need to create this. I hope authors won't allow their books to be turned into technology. The only book they used in the display was a Jane Austen novel. I hope it fucking bombs and costs the companies millions of dollars. They deserve it for even attempting this.