The fetishization of books

[madlori]

Earlier today on Tumblr I came across the following graphic.

Comments

[pennswoods]

I just assumed the fetishizing is in response to a very great (and not unreasonable) fear that ebooks will usher in a period of scarcity of physical books.

[madlori]

That is a fear, yes. But I don't believe physical books will ever leave us. Stephen Fry once famously said that ebooks wouldn't make regular books extinct any more than elevators have eliminated stairs. :-)

[aiela]

As someone with over 1700 books in her house, I have to say, my husband and I have fallen in love with our Kindles. And you know what? I was already not buying new books. I was reading them from the library, or borrowing from friends, because I am RUNNING OUT OF PLACES TO PUT BOOKS.

So actually, my e-reader is putting money into author's pockets, because now I'm paying for books again - I'll gladly pay for a book I don't have to store!

[madlori]

I'm all for simplicity of organization and decluttering!

[soberloki]

THANK YOU.

I'm a bit tired of being smirked at when I talk about my Nook. I love it! I can take ALL THE BOOKS wherever I want. I added a 4gig memory card so I could carry MORE books than basic memory allows, and there are hundreds more in Calibre on my computer, which I can have in 20 seconds, ta-dah!

I do like books, the physical objects. But I prefer to one-hand my Nook and eat my lunch, over having to wrestle with turning pages and hand cramps from that awkward position required for one-handing a paperback.

[1_bad_idea]

I couldn't agree with you more! I do have trouble with my hands, and my kindle has been amazing. I also love to be able to listen to a book while I fold laundry and while I drive, which is obviously not possible with a paper book. I have been able to get books that I need for school for free, and I can get books immediately. It's also awesome to be able to search for info in a book while writing papers and to be able to go to a page that shows only what I have highlighted. There are just so many reasons to love ebooks and I actually read much more now that I have a kindle than I ever could without it.

[luciab]

I do indeed (as noted above) fear for the continuation of physical, paper, books, which I love. I do also understand the advantages of the e-book, having struggled recently with some far-too-heavy books. However, I found myself at Pennsic this year needing books to read, and no one could loan me anything because they all had e-books! And I admit that I do appreciate the feel of a paper-and-ink book in my hand, and the visceral feel of knowing where I am in the book, and whether I read something on the versal or recto, and where it was on the page, and what type face it's in..... I will, sooner or later, come to love the e-book, too, I suppose. It'll just take me a while. I've never been an early adapter. ;-)