Burn the ebooks!

This might make me a strange young person, but sometimes I don’t like technology. Don’t get me wrong, technology has done some great things, and I wouldn’t want to live without it. But some things are just better in their original, non-computer chipped form. And my pet hate for things that technology just shouldn’t touch is books.

There’s so much power in the written word, and there’s nothing quite like a well-read book. Dog eared pages and a well-worn spine only add to a book’s personality, and you always know a book’s been loved if it’s looking a little bit rough around the edges. Buying a new book is like buying a ticket into a new world, and bookstores were always cosy little places stacked to the ceiling with imagination. Sure, books have always been a bit nerdy. But there’s no better way to escape the world for a little while then to curl up with a book.

Then came along the ebook. Suddenly everyone was reading off matte screens and turning a page meant pressing a button that made a little ‘woosh’ noise as it went to the next screen. Technology was turning books into charmless, robotic little things. There’s nothing comforting about a screen, and nothing loveable about a well-worn button or a small crack. These things, on ebooks, are just annoying. There’s nothing special about curling up with your ebook. Ebooks take away so much of the magic of books, and reading.

Then all of a sudden Borders shut, and book stores seemed to becoming a thing of the past. My nerdy friends and I shed a tear or two, but the rest of the world seemed quite happy with their ebooks, Ipads and phones to entertain them on the bus. Books felt like a dying breed, sacrificed on the altar of technological advancement.

But despite all this, I don’t think all hope is lost for books. I’ve still  got a bookcase full of the gorgeous little things, and bookstores still do exist, you’ve just got to hunt them down a little more. And in every bookstore you walk into there’s like-minded book freaks who just can’t quite adjust to the idea of reading off a screen. So I’m going to keep touting my books with pride, and giving technology the cold shoulder. Because there’s some things that you just can’t improve on, like books.