Kindle the Books over the Fire?
The new Amazon Kindle is a pretty interesting device. Newsweek had a nice feature titled The Future of Reading in the most recent issue. It is very exciting to watch the development of these technologies. The Kindle is the predecessor of the "Alpha Device" that may one day bring every book, cross referenced and linked, to the palm of your hand...anytime. How exciting is that? I will withdraw from society and do nothing but try to answer life's persistent questions.
Once again, with the Kindle, the technorati herald the demise of the book while the literati say "Never!” The truth is probably somewhere in between. The world is never one of absolutes.
I've been rereading one of my favorites lately. Walter Miller Jr's St Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. A close friend gave it to me about ten years ago when it first came out. She knew that I was a big fan of his iconic first book: A Canticle for Leibowitz It has sat on my shelf for a decade. When I picked it up earlier this week, it functioned just as well as it had in 1997. When I am finished, I will put it back on the shelf for possibly another ten years, pulling it off from time to time to reference a passage or two. Aside from that, it will always remind me of the good friend who gave it to me as a gift. When digital technologies can duplicate this efficiency and experience, then the bell will finally toll for the book.
Once again, with the Kindle, the technorati herald the demise of the book while the literati say "Never!” The truth is probably somewhere in between. The world is never one of absolutes.
I've been rereading one of my favorites lately. Walter Miller Jr's St Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. A close friend gave it to me about ten years ago when it first came out. She knew that I was a big fan of his iconic first book: A Canticle for Leibowitz It has sat on my shelf for a decade. When I picked it up earlier this week, it functioned just as well as it had in 1997. When I am finished, I will put it back on the shelf for possibly another ten years, pulling it off from time to time to reference a passage or two. Aside from that, it will always remind me of the good friend who gave it to me as a gift. When digital technologies can duplicate this efficiency and experience, then the bell will finally toll for the book.
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