Hard copy, if you please

With technology advancing on a daily basis, and all the options available, our society is moving away from the printed word. Nobody subscribes to "the newspaper" any more - they simply go to foxnews.com or some similar website, or have the news articles emailed directly to them (guilty!). We write emails instead of letters, blog posts instead of Christmas cards, and text rather than making phone calls. My husband doesn't even take his Bible to church anymore, because he has a program on his phone that lets him view the Bible in any translation, any language he desires!

I have recently been downloading a lot of books from Project Gutenberg, a website with thousands of books available for free, much of it classic literature. While I enjoy having so many books readily available for my perusal, I've started to realize how much I miss  the physical sensation of reading "real" books.

"But they save so much space! And you can get them for free! Without wasting paper! And you can put them on your laptop, or iphone, or kindle, or even on a thumb drive, and take them anywhere!" 

Yes, but....

Here are my old-fashioned arguments in favor of good, old fashioned bound paper real books:

- nothing can replace the feel of the paper pages and the smell of the ink you experience as you turn each page

- it may take up more space, but there's also the sense of accomplishment you get from seeing that thick book in your hand and realizing you've read 800 pages

- the individual uniqueness of each book - the beauty of the leather cover, the gold embossing, the choice of typeset, or even the flimsy paper-back with its cheap cover - is incomparable

- a book doesn't shatter when it hits the ground 

- you can see the lovely full-page illustrations without having to view them in pieces or scroll down

- the sunlight glares a great deal less on the pages of a book than the screen of a computer

- you can take a relaxing bath while reading a book without worrying that you are going to electrocute yourself if you drop it in the water...and even if you do drop it, the pages will dry out. The kindle, not so much. And books are far less expensive to replace.

- you get a sense of awe from walking into a library or a bookstore and seeing shelf after shelf of books. Of taking one down and reading just a page here or there...of caressing the spines and judging each book by its cover...there is just no such joy in electronic browsing. You have to know exactly what book you're looking for in an online catalog.

- you never have to wait for your book to boot up. Or plug it in to recharge, or worry about it running out of battery right in the middle of the most exciting scene! Even when my kids tear up my books, I can tape the pages back together long enough to finish them.

Finally, a few visual illustrations to prove my point:

 The Library of Congress

 Trinity College Library

The library from Beauty and the Beast

Technology will never replace the printed word...at least not with me. How about you?

P.S. Is it ironic that I am publishing an online blog about the printed word? Hmmm....