Wednesday, October 21, 2009

E-book or not e-book ?

Would you buy an e-book ? Many people are prophetesing the death of the good old paperback book, who would be soon replaced by his its equivalent of metal.
But is it really so simple ?

It's true that the e-book offers a true high quality image and thousand of possibilities. You can read equally Shakespeare's Mac Beth or the last Red Dress Ink Book. It's very simple : you just have to download it. From a catalogue given on the web you can memorise in a single e-book hundreds of your favorite books, add different bookmarks, classify your book-files....




Nonetheless, if we try to think about it, this silly video reveals one of the e-book many despisable aspects. First of all it might be thinner, but it's also kind of heavier and a way more fragile. You can't, for sure, read it in your bath tub ! And if you are in the subway or so, of course it's nice if no-one can see what you are reading exactly (you won't open a book about sex tips in the subway, do you?), but the thing is, you might be afraid to loose it, to break it, or be afraid of thieves.
Because these little babes are costing over 250$ !

Moreover, we can't forget the social aspect of the book : who could lend you an e-book ?

Moreover, an e-book doesn't have the "magic" of the good old book : you can't wander in the alleys of a library, finding "magically" (and with a little bit of luck) exactly what you needed from the beginning !
With an e-book you have to know exactly what you want to read from the beginning, no time for chance ! You cannot be struck by a stunning title or an original cover just as if you were looking along the stairs of a bookcase....

So, in the end, what would I choose ?
Well, even if i'm not feeling exactly comfortable with reading on a screen, I would definitely at least TRY an e-book.
I would go for an e-book that is thin, light, and very easy to carry. I would also choose a model that is discreet : I on't want to show off with it.

And because I'm a bit slow for everything that concerns technologies, I would go for a model that is simple to use, very instinctive. Thanks to websites such as Wired, we can be helped in our search of the e-book that suits us the most.
Since I will be using my e-book just as a test, I would go for the cheapest and trendiest model like the $250 upstart Cool-er e-book reader.

However, I think that thanks to this "magic" that the book has, I would also stick to my beloved books whose corned pages are full of memories.
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