As I got my usual mani-pedi the other day, I was juxtaposed between two elderly ladies a la typical Boca Raton fashion. They were discussing their brand new Nooks. One had internet access and one did not. Apparently they’re coming out with an HD version, too; did you know that? As they compared who had the better Nook, I couldn’t help but be amused that I was the younger one and I’m pro book, not Nook.
I love technology just as much as the next girl, but there’s nothing like the smell, the feel, and beauty of a book. I cuddle up with one, two, maybe five books and a cup of coffee and begin the adventure of deciding who gets read first. Someones I just want to disconnect with the outside world and technology altogether. Books still provide that escape for me, something a Nook does not.
In fact, there are many ways a Nook does not satisfy what a book does:
A Nook… doesn’t have a gorgeous cover with carefully designed imagery and font. Half of the reason I buy books is for the design. It’s portable art.
A Nook doesn’t let you flip between many pages at once to reference what happened earlier in a story. It’s faster with a book.
A Nook doesn’t have that smell… whether new or old, books have a certain scent, a glorious one. Like fine wine, it gets better with age. And when you walk into a place with many of them, particularly an old library, the scent is heavenly.
A Nook would never survive the hostile environment of my purse. Cameras have died untimely deaths in there. Makeup compacts disintegrate. Lipsticks and lip gloss come apart. Gum moulds itself into unrecognizable shapes. Books always survive.
Nooks can’t be signed by the author. That’s a huge fail for me.
You can’t have exchange parties with Nooks. Once a month, on Sundays in New York, I’d have a book exchange party with my girlfriends. We would take advantage of this time to catch up with some wine, talk about our lives, and talk about our books.
A Nook doesn’t reveal who someone is, their book collection does. When I first meet someone, the first thing I do when I visit their home is check out their book collection. When I first met my husband, his book collection confirmed he was the type of person I could spend more time with. Books on spirituality, martial arts, and cooking? Exactly my type. I would never of known that with a Nook!
Now don’t get me wrong. Nooks and e-readers have their place. I think they’re a much cheaper, environmentally friendly and efficient replacement for textbooks in schools and universities. It just makes sense. However, when it comes to reading for enjoyment, I want the solitude of a book… and not technology.
Tricia Chatter 