At the beginning of
August, a Turkish newspaper translated BuzzFeed’s “10 Reasons Real Books AreBetter Than E-books” article to Turkish. I think this was in hopes of firing up
debates among Turkish readers since e-books are getting more available here as
well.
Having been skeptical
of e-reading at first, I can say all my doubts went away when I got the chance
to actually hold an e-reader and see what it was like to read on one. Ever
since my family got me a Kindle on my birthday last January, I’ve been glued to
it, and I’m not willing to let it go. Of course, this doesn’t mean I’m ditching
my “real” books, as BuzzFeed puts it.
Aren’t e-books “real”
books? To me, they’re as real as a book on paper because they have all the
pages which you can just as easily read. So, shouldn’t we call the “real” books
“printed books” or “books on paper” instead? Anyways; let’s move onto the 10
reasons why printed books are better than e-books and how I do not agree with
all of them.
(The parts in italics
are taken directly from BuzzFeed’s list)
You can read books in
the bath.
I’m sure many
bookworms will agree with me when I say that reading a book is tricky around
water whether it’s printed or electronic or carved on stone. BuzzFeed suggests
that if you drop your printed book in the tub, you can just blow dry it, and it
will be “good as new.” Well, NO, they will NOT be good as new because the pages
are gonna stick and the ink’s gonna get all messed up. So you need to be just
as careful with your printed books and e-readers when you’re in water. Or just
leave them somewhere dry and don’t take the risk at all.
No need to turn off
your book on a plane.
This is true, but
Kindle (I don’t know about other devices) has an airplane mode just like
cellphones and tablets do. BussFeed’s point is that you won’t have to close a
printed book even for a few minutes on the plane, but with finding your seat,
and the people around you getting seated and all that, you’ll lose some reading
minutes anyway.
You can read in the
sun.
I’ve read on my Kindle
in the sun and had no problems.
They will fill your
shelves.
This is also true, but…
I have so many books that I’m having a hard time fitting them onto shelves. I
have a small apartment, so it’s not like I can get as many shelves as I need
without having to move the rest of my furniture out. If I really like a book I’ve
read on Kindle, I’ll go buy a printed copy of it as well. If I feel it’s a book
I don’t want to own or wouldn’t read again, it stays on my hard drive and saves
me physical space.
Antique books are
amazing.
This is also true.
E-books aren’t stopping anyone from obtaining antique books. And what’s better,
you can store your antique book safely and pet it once in a while, and if you
want to re-read it, you can do it on your Kindle without damaging that beauty.
You can’t get an
e-book signed.
Another correct point.
But the thing is, if you go to a signing, printed copies of the author’s book
will be available for sale right then and there. Also, when I met one of my
favorite Turkish authors randomly, I didn’t have his book with me. I told him
how I was a fan, and he signed my journal that I always carry with me. As long
as you ask for their autograph, they wouldn’t even mind signing a napkin for
you.
Libraries and
bookstores.
Both are important,
and none of them are going to die because we’re not going to let them. I was
recently in Helsinki, Finland, and I went into Akateeminen Kirjakauppa
(Academic Bookstore) 2-3 times, and it was always crowded. Turkish bookstores
are the same. And libraries let you
touch everything and then borrow the book you want, so they’ll be around.
Finishing a long book is
more rewarding this way.
They mean finishing a
big, printed book is more rewarding, which I think is rather ridiculous because
whoever wrote it apparently hasn’t carried around Murakami’s IQ84 or The House
of Leaves. If you love reading stories, any length is rewarding because you get
to experience new worlds and characters. To me, this point would only be valid
with big school books because finishing them would mean the school year is over
and done with.
They inspire tattoos.
They inspire much better tattoos, which has nothing to do with the format they come in. An example:
Books don’t die.
Meaning even if they
get torn they will never run out of juice and leave you disappointed right in
the middle of a story. My Kindle’s battery goes on for days, for one thing. The
second thing is… You make sure to charge your phone so it doesn’t die on you
during the day. This is something we used to. So, doing the same thing for our
e-readers isn’t a burden. Am I right or am I right?!
Getting down to my
main point: I do not want printed word to die; I can’t honestly imagine life
without it. But we should also be aware of how convenient e-books are and how
they make life easier. Why the hate? If you’re dying to read a novel, you don’t
have to get dressed and drive yourself to the nearest bookstore. You don’t even
have to get out of bed. Just clickityclick and you got it! I think we should
enjoy e-books instead of hating them.
