How do you like your pages flipped?

In the futuristic age there are many ways we do old things in new ways.  From instant communications through tweets and text vs telephones to sending mail vs email to watching tv on a flat screen vs youtube videos and digital copies to reading a book vs reading kindle or kobo, today many of us have found new methods to perform old tasks.

So how do you like your pages flipped? What am I talking about?  Reading!  The way that we read now has been affected by the modern age in many ways.  Some people still read magazines and newspapers while others follow blog syndicates, read online magazines, and some just peruse endless web pages.  But more specifically in terms of reading novels many people now read their books on electronic devices.  eReaders and Apps on Smart Devices such as Kindle or Kobe have changed the face of publishing.  There are a number of devices out on the market which have made reading more easily accessible in some ways.  With a device such as a Kindle or Kobe Tablet or Smart Phones with the book application you can store numerous books on hard disk and carry it with you anywhere.  The age of the paper back is coming to an end or is it?  I don't think we'll really ever see print media die out.  There is just something about holding a book in hand licking your thumb to turn the next page.  While swiping you're finger across a touch screen and having the page flipped virtually before your eyes is really cool I still like the idea of owning hardcovers and paperbacks.  Sometimes I own both the ebook and the paperback so if I am away from home and I feel like reading Tolkien's Lord of the Rings I can just look it up in my virtual archive download it and begin reading.
I think many people enjoy the option of having the choice to read a book or a eReader.  Very cool.

























I also think in some ways electronic readers have generated a renewed interest in reading overall.  While the price of some eBooks can run high most are very cheap compared to their counter parts especially considering the way in which the Book industry runs their prints now by releasing Hardcovers first and then months later Paperbacks.  It does make a difference in the wallet when you buy the eBook as opposed to the Hardcover.  One of the great things about the eBook Stores is that often there are many free books made available as well, while many of them are classic novels, it is very useful to have.

While the ability to switch eBooks between different types of readers is still a controversial issue and I don't exactly like the fact that if I purchase a book from Kindle's Store I may not be able to read it in Kobe due to the DRM restrictions (an encoding format which protects the file from being read on devices other than that which it was purchased on).  I'm sure in time this will get straightened out.  For now I stay in the best of both worlds. I have my Kindle App on my phone and I have my mini-library where I can grab a paperback and sit down by the fireplace.  

Bookworm Blodgett