So now I'm reading my first book on an ereader. It's Spies of the Balkans
, by Alan Furst. I thought I'd better make my first book a real "page turner," as they say.First impression: it's hard to take such a small block of text very seriously. It's hard to take seriously a "book" that you can see so little of at any one time. I'm enjoying Furst's tale-telling, but the bottom line is, this is not an improvement on the traditional reading experience. Not even close.
I get that it's convenient at times--on planes, for example--and I get that the books are often cheaper, but I'm mostly a library guy anyway, and buy very few books. I also think that the more good books one reads on one of these devices, the more a reader will begin to associate all the pleasures of the "reading experience" with the device in his hands. This little piece of plastic may just grow lovable over time!
But . . . no, it's not an improvement. The lag as the device "turns" the page is definitely annoying (Kindles and Nooks, I'm told, do not have this problem). It is not in any way easier to read a book on one of these things, and it is certainly not a pleasing object in itself (as many books are, with their distinctive covers, their distinctive typeface, etc.).
Sale of ebooks are skyrocketing, and so I suppose we will all be reading on these devices more often than perhaps some of us would wish. I am by no means a Luddite waxing nostalgic for old technology, but when the new technology comes along, it is often in some significant way an improvement over the old (even if something is always lost as well). But that does not appear to be the case with ereaders.
Foucsing strictly on the reading experience, it is serviceable, but it is not an improvement.
