Hard copy VS. Digital

My last post I covered hightlights of owning a Kindle or another e-reader device. Just let me say that no matter how much stuff they cramm onto a device sometimes just a good old fashion paperback or hard back book will do.

I have LOTS and LOTS of books. Some are signed and collectors first editions which are my darlings. I will do a lot for a signed copy of a First edition. Lord help me if it is an Anne Rice book. I am a book collector to put it simply. Nothing can soothe the soul quite like the weight of a good book in your hand and the smell of it's printed pages. It's like therapy after a bad day when life shows you that you are not quite the person you thought you are.

There are just some books you have to OWN physically. Not just the words, but it's presence. The lure of the jacket and art work of the book, the feel of the ink on the pages helps suck you into the story.

I will admit on a lot of books on my kindle are what I call "Junk books". They are interesting, and most of them are good reads, but most of them are books that I would of never physically bought in ANY bookstore. These are mostly from new writers that have not quiet found their voice, but are working on finding it. They may have a decent plot and fastinating characters, but somewhere among all the words they fail. They missed something while composing the story and it just fell apart. The story felt flat.

Because of collectors such as myself and the books that demand your presence in it's physical form will help keep bookstores from completely vanishing. I understand the need to save paper and help the trees, but some stories just require the death of a tree. There's no other way around it.

How will the book industry be overall affected by this digital age? I haven't the slighest clue how things will turn out, but be rest assured that books will continue to be written, reviewed and talked about and most importantly read! The printing press changed books forever and now our instant gratification age will also. Hey, I have woken up at 2 A.M. and decieded I NEEDED that certain book and I bought it via my kindle which deliveried it instantly. The key to all of this isn't the way the book, i.e. message, is delievered, but that it is delivered.