I used to read a lot when I was younger, but I stopped.
When I was in High School, getting perfect grades was important to my parents. It was important to me too. I read a lot, but it was because I was forced to.
In college, I experienced a similar "forced labor" of reading.
The combination of all this resulted in my passion for reading being stolen. That is, until recently, when I started reading e-books.
After I discovered Kindle and Nook Books on my smart phone, that became the only way I would read. If it was a real book, I just probably wasn't going to read it.
But I recently had a conversation with a family member that changed my mind completely.
"I just prefer a real book. There's nothing like it. I like the feel of the pages on my fingers. It's just more personal."
That was the conversation that flipped me. That's all I had to hear. She was totally right. So now, I want to try and convert you guys too.
Here is my list of reasons why "real books" are better than "e-books:"
- With an e-reader or smartphone app, I can hold thousands of books in the palm of my hand. Psh! Who wants to do that? If I literally hold thousands of books in the palm of my hand, THINK of how much stronger my wrists are going to be! Want a work-out? Get some real books and go for a walk.
- When I'm done reading an e-book and want to take a break, the reading device will remember exactly where you are. Which is great -- if you're lazy! Come on! Give me an old school bookmark or a folded up church bulletin to keep my place, any day!
- If you want to read, but your spouse is sleeping, you can totally read an e-book in bed, right next to them. You can even adjust the backlight so it doesn't disturb them. But you don't want to do that, do you? No way! Take your old school "real book" out to the couch! Read a little, fall asleep on the couch and wake up in the middle of the night, confused by the slobber on the corner of your mouth and the book in the middle of the floor. That's way better! Am I right??
- With an e-reader, you merely have to tap the side of the screen when you want to go to the next page. But think about what you're missing! The paper cuts that make your skin calloused and stronger! The constant losing track of what page you were on when you mistakenly lose hold of the page -- instilling patience training that you would have otherwise missed!
- If you are using a device to read books, you can adjust the size of the text, according to your vision. Again...lazy! Give me some two-dollar Walgreen's glasses and I'm good to go. You wanna adjust the text size? Hold the book closer! Come on, man!
- When you're done with your current e-book, all you have to do is press a few buttons and -- BOOM! You've got another new book to read, instantly at your disposal. What's the fun in that? Half the joy of reading is the trek to the bookstore, combined with the time spent looking through book after book. Keep your convenience. I want to work for my books!
Just kidding. E-books are way better. It's not even close. Stop being scared of technology. It's awesome. I'm going to check my e-mail, send a text, update my Facebook status and Re-tweet a funny joke. See ya, suckers!
Do you love e-books too, or are you still pretending that real books are better?
