Books, Books and More Books

Photo by Lochaven on Flickr

Most of you would guess that I love to read, and you’d be right. For all the disharmony in our major political, economic and religious institutions, and worldwide unrest, we still live in a most exceptional time as far as books are concerned.

Take, for example, the worldwide web, the greatest library in the history of mankind. The ancient Egyptians, whose library at Alexandria was one of the first Great Wonders of the World, and Thomas Jefferson, whose personal library was so vast that it formed the core of the Library of Congress after the first one was burned by the British in the War of 1812, would surely be wordless when presented with the ability of Google and other search engines to locate, reproduce and annotate virtually every publication ever produced on this planet. They would be in heaven. When I was in college and graduate school we were still doing almost everything the old- fashioned way via the Dewey Decimal System (you are firmly in middle age if you recognize that old method), but computers were starting to show up in the library. We just didn’t know or care to learn (no time) what they might be capable of.

Thankfully, the next generation did care, and expanded on those possibilities so much that decimals no longer matter; it’s all in the digits now, so much so that it’s getting harder to remember what it was like to spend a few hours looking for a particular article or book review on real bookshelves.

Then came the next wave of innovations: eBooks and iBooks and Kimbles and iPads. Now, you can not only find a particular book on the web, you can download it onto a device that let’s you either listen to it being read to you or actually read it like an old fashioned book displayed on the screen of your device. This latter capability is what has led to the increased screen size of products from Apple to Amazon to Sony, products which are slimmer, lighter and more versatile than the actual book could ever have been.

I’ve had an iPhone for several years now, and one of the first things I did was download a free application called “The Classics”, which initially contained about a dozen of the best books ever written displayed on the screen like miniature books you could read, bookmark and actually turn the page, with a built-in sound like a piece of paper being lifted and turned over. It was so cool that despite the small screen of an iPhone I found myself reading books like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Robinson Crusoe, The Call of the Wild and Pride and Prejudice while waiting around doctors’ offices, automobile maintenance shops and hospital beds. This was perhaps the greatest distraction and best reading room of all: a hospital bed. I’ve been in a lot of them the past two years, unfortunately, and medications while necessary did not leave me so comatose that I couldn’t think. And if I think without the ability to move I get bored very quickly. Then (shudder) even the TV starts to call my name. But being allowed the use of my iPhone to read a good book, well, suddenly I was on a beach somewhere having a jolly vacation read and escape.

Now I also have an iPad, a larger device about the size of a minister’s Bible, which does even more to enhance the reading experience. Amazon’s Kimble and the Sony Reader are similar in size, but lack most other features of the iPad, which can access the Internet, operate email, function as an iPod, and do virtually everything the iPhone does, and more. About the only thing it doesn’t do is accept or place cell phone calls.

The reading experience on the larger screen devices is sublime. Pages can be oriented as two across like a regular paper book, or as one larger page at a time which you turn by touching a corner of the screen, audible sounds and all. The books available for download are virtually endless, and your personal mobile library is limited only by the free space on it’s hard drive. Really, it’s like shrinking the local library down to clipboard size so you can carry it around whenever you want. Endlessly satisfying and comforting to know that if you’re hung up anywhere, from the local airport to the barber shop, you’ve got good friends right on your lap, waiting for you to call. Oh, did I mention you can also get any number of daily newspapers, too? Yep.

Photo by PACMan3000 on Flickr

I will never get over the pleasure of holding a real ink and paper book in my hands; it’s a childhood memory thing. But there’s never been an easier time to find and read almost anything you want, from all over the world, all in one place, light, portable, and un-scribbled upon by some twit who had it out late before you could secure it.

Go for it. It’s hip to hold a square.