Books are good too
My wife and I just finished the 7th and final Harry Potter book this weekend and all I can keep thinking is…this is why books will never go away.
I’ve been accused of being a hater of books from time to time. I push the digital, digital is what I do and therefore it is what I preach. Nevertheless, reading a book everyday to my students is what I miss most about being a classroom teacher.
I have never been much of a reader. I struggle at it; I’m slow at comprehending and most of time I end up reading pages twice just to follow along. There are very few books that I have finished from cover to cover and many that have been forgotten a couple chapters in. My wife and I have read the Harry Potter series aloud together. All 7 books…in cars, in bed, on planes and beaches. We’ve finished them together.
…and there is something about books. Something that movies do not capture, something that gets lost when you are reading in digital form. There is something about flipping pages, about reading in different comfortable positions that you just cannot replicate.
I do love audiobooks and listen to more books than I read (being an auditory learner I guess that makes sense). Audiobooks and my iPod is where most of my books are read.
I am not a book hater, I am a digital lover. My RSS reader is my book, making me think, making me ponder, and allowing me glimpses into the lives of those I read. I’ve read more in the past 3 years in blogs then I have read my entire life to this point. Some might say that is sad…and it is, but I find it exciting that I’m actually reading, actually making the time to sit and enjoy a good post, or a good reflection. Digital is my media, this information is what I love. I understand it’s not for everyone, and I understand that magical power that a paper book holds.
But I continue to push the digital…that is my job after all. I’m excited about e-books, e-paper, and ubiquitous access to information. That is my book…that is what I love…that is what I do…and that I believe is the future.
I don’t hate books….I just like digital media better.
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