The feel of books still beats out computers

• Source: Global Times
• [21:04 October 09 2009]
• Comments

 By Lin Yang

So it's books versus e-books, the old versus the new. But before the battle begins, let's get our terms straight.

We all know what a book is, or we think we do. But an e-book, whatever the name, is not really a book at all, but a computer. They've taken that computer and limited its functions, cut some parts off, changed its shape, and given it the name, but it's still a computer, a delicate piece of technology, filled with electronics, run by electricity, displaying words and pictures on a little screen.

Once you get that into your head, "computers versus books," it looks less like an either-or proposition. More of a yes-but-and kind of thing, and the world is large enough to hold both computers and books.

That's what my head tells me. But my heart belongs to the books. And that's what it's really about.

An e-book is just a means of delivery, not the thing itself; it has no more sentimental value than a television set. A book is almost a person; it has a presence, a history, and a personality.

Every e-book file delivered to every e-book machine across the world will always be exactly the same. But every book, from the moment it's printed, acquires its own identity. And when you come to own that book, it becomes part of you.

The connection we feel toward a particular book can last a lifetime. I still have treasured books from my childhood, a friend of mine has books that his grandparents bought over 100 years ago, and an old family Bible with the names of his ancestors written in it from over 150 years ago. I can't imagine any computer file can ever evoke the feelings that books like these can.

But, just so you won't think I'm an old fogy rattling on about the good old days, here are some more reasons.

The first is ownership, since e-book files, the official ones you find in online stores, aren't really yours.