A Directionless and Pointless Rant

You know what annoys me?

Talking with someone about e-readers (I have mine.  I love it.), only to have that person go "Well, I like REAL books."  Y'know, with THAT tone.

It's fine to not want an e-reader.  I'm certainly not going to say someone should have an e-reader if they don't want one.  But there's no reason to be snooty about it.  I like real books too!  It's not like I've gone out and burned all of my paperbacks and hardcovers just because I have an e-reader!

Yes, books are lovely.  There are wonderful things about them that an e-reader can't deliver: that smell of books.  The weight of books.  There's something so satisfying about holding a big book and being able to tell on a visceral and tactile level how far away you are from the end (page numbers aren't the same.)

Not to mention the lovely back cover blurbs which really help when you want to decide what to read next.

E-books can't do any of that.  They do however have other advantages: being able to carry a lot more books at a time, for example.  Including entire series!  No more getting to the end of book 2 of a series in the doctor's waiting room only to realize you left book 3 at home.

The search engine is nice too.  Especially if you missed a relevant detail "Wait, who the fuck is Mktag again?"   And the dictionary!  Yes, you can figure out a word from context, but it's nice to be able to find out quickly if you're right.   Not to mention the advantage of being able to change font/text size when your eyes get tired!

So...I suppose I don't really have a point to this rant.  It's just a bit of venting.  It's perfectly cool if you don't want an e-reader.  I just wish some folks wouldn't act like I'm giving up paperbacks forever just because I like it.

Hmph.