Something I've been trying to explain to my techie friends for years

[kellinator]

I have a lot of hacker friends, many of whom seem to be personally offended by the existence of books, or "dead trees" as they derisively call them. They take great joy in announcing that books will be obsolete in five years and we'll wonder why we ever wasted time with the damn things.

As a bookworm, this attitude has always bothered me. I know few pleasures as glorious as taking a shiny new book, running your hands over it, smelling that new-book smell, and settling into bed for an evening of reading. I just don't believe you can get the same aesthetic pleasure from your e-book reader, no matter how convenient it is.

But as a librarian and document delivery specialist, I can say one thing for damn sure: Books will never be obsolete as long as there are all these damn broken links on the web.

(I will add that generally, government websites are the worst offenders, and have the least user-friendly websites to boot.)

Comments

Re: Something I've been trying to explain to my techie friends for years

[wolfieboy.livejournal.com]

As techie as I am, I still love the feel of a book. I like the feel of the paper, the heft of the book, the sometimes smell. All of these thing contribute a lot. It's much harder to damage a book and the type and the cover are so much clearer. Give me a book anyday. Well, maybe not; we don't have enough room already. :)