In defense of dead trees

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In Star Trek TNG, Capt Picard was periodically seen in his ready room sprawled out with a book in his hands. A real book made from dead trees and possibly covered with the hide of a dead animal, but more likely covered with more dead trees.

Some of the other crew professed to not understand his devotion to printed books. He attempted to explain it briefly. The actors professed to not quite understand.

I can see a time coming when that will be a reality, not a science fiction plot device. It's already happening among many folks of the generation behind me. Marty Beckerman, who better win some literary awards for his work is of that crowd. He told me he'd rather spend 99¢ to get a download off iTunes than buy a CD.

Me? I miss vinyl. I still have a stereo with a working 8-track deck.

Read at your own risk.

Nichole Winter told me she'd rather buy an ebook and read it on a tablet device than buy a dead tree edition. Several authors have gone on to best-seller status, earning 6 figures by turning out ebooks after being rejected by traditional publishers.

Maybe I am old, but I just don't understand that. I prefer to do my heavy reading with a light over my shoulder and some pages in my hands.

The ebook trade, according to some folks, accounts for 10 percent more or less of the present book traffic across the planet. Which means the rest of the people who bother to read books are still turning pages manually.

Me? I have never read an ebook.

I lied.

I have a number of versions of the Bible in ebook form in the several computers I operate. I also do Bible research online at Bible.com. These are ebooks. They are also the only ebooks I have read. I do have a couple of ebooks in PDF format from some writing buddies. But I have never read them. Don't know if I ever will read them.

There's just something more than impersonal about reading a good book on a computer screen. A good book, for that matter even a not so good book, is a friend. Friends don't have off switches. You can part company for a bit with a friend and come back to the friend.


Bah. Sentimental claptrap.

But I do wonder what happens to your ebooks when formats change and your version is incompatible with the newer software and hardware.

I have books at home right at 100 years old. I can still read them. The ebooks of today, will someone be able to read them 20 years from now? 

What happens if your computer crashes? If someone hacks your "cloud" account?

Last time one of my books crashed, it woke me up. It slipped off the bed and hit the floor. It's still laying there, undamaged. I'll reshelve it, and all the others on the floor and bed, eventually. How would your "tablet" fare under similar circumstances?

Can you trade ebooks? Swap 'em around? Can you admire your collection of ebooks?

What happens if you throw an ebook at someone? Can you fold an ebook over your face to block the sun so you can take a nap? Inquiring minds and all that...

Many years ago I decided when I some day owned a house, I'd have book shelves in every room. The only room in my house without book shelves is the laundry room. I even have shelves in the hallway. I also need to put up more book shelves.

I are.

One of the books I am reviewing for the Benjamin Franklin Awards has the protagonist opening her home as a library after the local School Board starts eliminating books from the school library. She eventually has to move the collection into another building.

Sounds like my kinda house.

Another of the books I am eyeballing for the Ben Franklin Awards contains a note from the author. She invites the reader to open the book crack the spine and bend the pages. She invites the reader into her world in a very tangible fashion.

Ah. As a veteran reader and author myself, those sentiments I can appreciate, sentimental claptrap or not.

Maybe I am old and maybe I'm not fitting into this electronic world much as my grandma never learned to set the clock in her VCR. So be it. If it gets too bad, I'll just lean back in recliner with a dead tree in my hands and let the world spin itself wherever it wishes.

I'll be happy.