I don't own more than an average amount of technology and some of what I have is obsolete. My stereo receiver and turntable were purchased in about 1986. They still work, but I can't tune in CBC Radio One on the FM band, though CBC Radio Two reception is fine. When my AM-FM clock radio stopped working, I found a new one at crappy Tire. The price? A whopping $9.00, tax included. The radio is in the bedroom, close to the window and it picks up the CBC Radio One signal clearly. The radio was made in China, as was my previous one which was only two years old when it died. It's impossible to buy small electronic items that are made in Canada. Everything is made off-continent. I wonder how long my new radio will last, and I wonder about a couple of other things, too.
If e-books are the way of the future, and many people believe they are, then how often would one have to buy a new device to read the books, and if the device dies, don't the stored books die with it?
I don't want to read a book using an electronic device - give me the real book My favourite way to read the printed word is on paper. In fact, I just subscribed to the local newspaper because I don't want to read it online. Also, if the local television station folds and it might as cable wars continue. I want a reasonably current source of local information.
How much am I contributing to environmental degradation? Paper can be recycled. Little is said about the cost of disposing of dead electronic stuff. Then there's the Internet - you seldom see much info about the enormous amounts of energy that are required to run it and other electronic devices - Crackberries and the like.
I'm glad I have access to the Internet, however, if I had to, I could live without it. But I absolutely must have my books.
5 comments:
I don't have too many techno gadgets either, but I like the ones I have. Mostly my Laptop. I love the interwebs... it's my job and most of my social life. But I'd rather live without it than without books. Love teh books.... yes yes. I have many.
The Internet or my books? Gah!
I guess I'd have to go with books. I don't think I could live without them. Although I'd miss the Internet terribly. I'd give up just about anything else for my Internet connection...because pretty much everything I'd give up could be found on the Internet.
Come to think of it,most books can be found there, too. Hmmmm.
That's a good question about e-readers, though. If the Amazon Kindle, for example, dies, do you get a free download of all the books you already bought? I know with the Barnes Noble e-reader, your library is kept on-line, so the answer would be yes. If my laptop died, I could access my library from my new laptop. But I don't know about a physical device like the Kindle.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to Canadians everywhere!!
I prefer paper books too. I've thought about an e-reader just for travel, but I'm still debating. The degradation of e-readers is worrisome to me as well. I'm not sure about the choice of giving up the internet or books though, since books are available online, but the internet (the interaction portion) is not available in books.
*sigh*
I prefer to read books on paper too, but if I had to choose between paper books or the Internet, the Internet would win, hands down. I can read books on the Internet, but the other things I use the Internet for I cannot get from books.
At present, all of my e-book purchases have been from Fictionwise. Fictionwise keeps a copy of all of my purchases in an online library which I can download from as often as I like to as many devices as I like. If I purchased e-books from a retailer who did not provide this service, I would make my own backup copies.
Give me 'real' books, please. I am not in favour of the continuous replacement of technogadgets. My digital camera, purchased for $700 five years ago, is considered a dinosaur - the battery died; I bought a new one several weeks ago, and now it seems the charger doesn't work. If a new charger will solve the problem, it's worth the $40, but I'm not going to buy fancy-dancy cameras anymore, only to have them fall useless within a few years...
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