Book People Archive

Re: Re: response to Jeff


I'm replying to two messages at once here. . .


On Thu, 22 Mar 2001 MyGopherHole@[redacted] wrote:
             
> In a message dated 3/22/01 10:44:50 AM Central Standard Time, 
> Kellscraft@[redacted] writes:
> 
> > And, let's face it, I have a personal issue involved here.  The smell of an > > old book, dusty and musty and warm in the hands, can never compete with the > > cold, impersonal, mechanistic thing of an e-book reader.  The best gift 
> > anyone can give is a book, perhaps inscribed inside with personal 
> > sentiment.  

For those of use who know that the smell you crave so much is actually
that of books' flesh rotting away and being eating by parasites. . .
this is just so much necromancerie and should be shunned. . .along with
the various other allergens, germs, etc., that come with "dead tree"
editions covered with "dead animals or plants."

Ickypoo!  Talk about "cold" and non-"sentimental"!

> > What would be lost if the only thing we have left is a bunch of electronic 
> > bits floating in the ether, that has little to do with the joy of reading a > > real book.  I'll keep my collection of books, thanks.  And I'll struggle to > > keep printed works always going.  It's too important to lose that touch of 
> > our humanity.

The humanity is in the content. . .not the form. . . .

> > 
> > What do others think?  I'd like to hear some other views on this issue.
> >              

You are. . .hee hee!

> > Thanks!
> > 
> > Jeff Kelley
> > www.kellscraft.com
> > 
> 
> Amen, Jeff!  My pc is indeed a wonderful tool, but I still buy books, real 
> books, lots of books, for myself and as gifts.  One of the things I did when 
> I got my pc about 3 years ago, was to immediately ferret out sites where I 
> could buy "real" books!

Then I'm sure your Homer is recited to you by young Greek gymnasts. . . .
             
> My "real" books never "crash", I don't have to wait for the pc to "boot up", 
> and I don't have to download them.

Your books get lost, borrowed, and will eventually fall apart, and can't
be corrected easily, either by you, the author, or the publisher.

Etexts are always there, easy to quote, copy, or give to a friend,
and you don't have to worry about returning them.

REAL PC's don't take any longer to boot up than it takes you to find
the average book and get ready to read it.

> Now about these ebooks, they are great too!  I think it is absolutely 
> wonderful that books I have never had the opportunity to read for one reason 
> or another, ie: not at the library, can't purchase because it is out of 
> print, or print too small to read in paper edition, are now becoming 
> available to me by electronic means.

And you can download them faster than you can even get up and get your
car out of the driveway. . .much less get back with the book. . . .
And easy to search for quotes. . .where you MIGHT just find another
quote as good as the one you were looking for. . . hee hee.


> But give up "real" books?  When pigs fly!
> 

Watch out. . .Pink Floyd may be circling overhead!


Thanks!

So nice to hear from you!


Michael S. Hart
<hart@[redacted]>
Project Gutenberg
"Ask Dr. Internet"
Executive Director
Internet User ~#100