Reading Technology

But You Really Don't Need to Pick a Side

By Ria Bulthuis

There’s a bookstore in the town where I grew up called the “Used Book Emporium.” I spent a lot of time there because my mom traded in old books that she’d finished reading for new ones. It was one of those cool old buildings with really tall wooden bookshelves, and dark wood floors that were all warped and creaky and still have the brass measurement markings from when the building was a hardware store.  When I was really young, I sat in this tiny rocking chair in the kid’s section and just read until my mom was finished.

This is my actual bookshelf. Thought you might appreciate that.

Books have changed a lot since then--ebooks have become a lot more popular and accessible. I’m the Chief Creative Officer who was mentioned in “Making ‘The Flip,’” because I’ve only ever had a flip phone. Since I don’t have a smartphone, or any other devices, I haven’t read a lot of ebooks recently, but last year I was reading them almost exclusively. Here are the pros and cons of ebooks, based on my personal experience:

Convenience

Libraries have a lot of books online that you can get without actually going anywhere. I discovered this great app called Overdrive, which lets you sign into libraries with your card number and download books from wherever to read on your phone. I actually read one on my laptop recently because I didn’t have easy access to a physical library. While I don’t actually recommend reading books on your laptop, considering the size and impracticality of it, apps like this are great on smaller devices. There’s also the fact that most people carry their phones with them, so taking a book along doesn’t require extra effort.

Weight and Size

This one is pretty obvious, but ebooks take up a lot less physical space than paper books. I have shelves full of my paper books, but if I wanted to read them all in a different country, I could download all of them and loads more without taking up more space than something I’m already taking with me. I’ve found this a huge advantage when I’m traveling. When I was younger--or, I suppose, when I was the same age as I am now--I’ve filled my luggage almost completely with books until I have very little room left over for “the necessities.” You know, clothes, toothbrush, all those things you don’t really need.

For people who want convenience, ebooks are probably the way to go. They’re more portable and easy to get your hands on, for sure. Even though I spent most of a year reading them when I actually had a device, there’s still something about paper books that really appeals to me.

Meaning

Reading paper books requires more planning and thought. Since you need to remember to take a book with you and think more about taking it out to read, it gives more meaning to the story, as well as to the action of reading itself. They can also be more immersive--there’s a feel to paper that a glass screen doesn’t have, and formatting is much more individual to the book--maps, pictures, and the decorations around chapter breaks all add to the feel of the story.

Other People

I carry a paper book with me most of the time, so I have something to do if I have five minutes to spare. This has resulted in multiple people saying to me that I inspire them because I read so much. Although this reason is rather shallow, it’s not likely that’s a compliment you’ll get if you read on your phone, since people will probably assume you’re doing something else.

Whether you read ebooks, or paper books, or both, reading is great. It can give you something to do if you’ve got any spare time, even if it’s only a few minutes. It can give you life experience from the sort of life that doesn’t really exist, so you don’t really need to go out and fight bad guys, do magic, or lose friends in order to gain very real experiences and lessons from those things. You can be waiting in line, or on a bus, or in an old, creaky bookstore, but at the same time you can be in a completely different, impossible world. All I’m saying is give books a chance, either way. It’s worth it.