Paige Wilson
Ast. Business Manager

As technology continues to advance, all aspects of our life seem to be heading in the same direction. An advancement in reading occurred a couple years ago and while it has some people excited, others remain determined to stick with their old habits.

The creation of the Amazon Kindle has divided readers all over the world. The Kindle is the new e-reader from Amazon that has revolutionized an ancient pastime. The Kindle provides the reader with a virtual library in the palm of their hands. At any moment a reader could go the Kindle store and download a book in sixty seconds or less; this makes the bookstores and libraries obsolete.

The other benefit is size- lugging around dozens of books will become a thing of the past. A Kindle weighs less than a pound and is able to hold up to 3,500, which is perfect for travelers.

Their creation also helps reiterate the new “Go Green” lifestyle. When books are purchased and read digitally, it cuts out the need for the printing process. This means less paper and fewer trees being cut down.

If readers aren’t excited for the chance to go green, they are ecstatic about the price difference. In many cases, there is a 50%, or more, saving between buying a physical book and buying a digital book.

Kindles are especially great for college students since the majority of their textbooks can be downloaded. Plus, how many people forget to buy a required reading book? Quite a few. But with the Kindle all they have to do is download it from the Kindle store and they’ll have it in sixty seconds.

However, with this new technology coming out, there are people who are stuck in their old ways. I would know this because I am the daughter of one of these “old school” readers. My mom always talks about how she could never use a Kindle- something to do with a certain smell a book’s pages have. I did not know there was a book scent.

You might think only adults have this dire need to cling to books, but students cannot seem to kick the habit either. They love to feel the book in their hands and they see it as a conversation starter. Personally, if I am reading a book I do not want people to come up to me- I want to read. A Kindle saves me from having to tell someone to leave me alone. It gives me the privacy of no one knowing what I am reading, so in a way it lets me stay in my own world.

For all those non-believers, all I have to say is, “get used to it”. E-readers are becoming more popular every year, and the selection of paper books will soon become less diverse. I have already seen a decline in the supply of books. At Barnes and Nobles there was a bigger section for the Nook, the Barnes and Nobles e-reader, than there was for Best-Sellers.
Maybe, for people like my mom, they can start bottling book-page smell. You can always spray it on your Kindle.