I’m probably really showing my age here, and figure I might
very well be the oldest person in this class!
There was absolutely no technology whatsoever when I was a child. We read books, not e-readers. Of course, thinking back to that time, there
was no computer in my home until the Commodore 64 came along and that was just
a means to play a few games lol.
My favorite hobby has always been reading. Whenever I received my allowance, I begged to
go to the bookstore to buy my favorites.
Mind you, I always went to the library to check out books, but if I
found some that were my favorites, I took my money to actually buy them because
I read them over and over again. Checking
out books back then meant you filled out a card in the back of the book with
your name and the librarian replaced it with a card showing the date it was due
back. And the books I bought at the
bookstore were usually about $0.25 each.
While nothing will ever replace that feeling of actually holding a book
in hand and turning the pages, I have gotten used to my kindle because these
old eyes need the ability to make the font bigger and easier to read.
As for the future of reading, I believe e-books and
audiobooks will be the way. I think
books may still be published, but I believe we will see far less publishing and
far more technology based applications for reading, which makes this old timer a little sad.
FYI - I'm 47 going on 90 lol
I also spent any allowance or birthday money on books! As a reward for my report cards, my parents would buy me 1-2 books every semester. It was my favorite thing to go to the bookstore and browse until I found a book. Then read it in the car on the way home. I wish books were still $0.25 each, though!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment on the decline of books. I love reading books without having to charge them. I hope that books stay around for a while.
Goodness, $.25 books? I want some of those! There are too many books I want now (and my collection is growing too quickly...) that I really have to plan most of my purchases.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to beat the ability to change the font on the ereaders, though. I don't need larger font most of the time, but I've taken to reading on the elliptical at the gym and I've grown to love that bit of technology! I couldn't read there without it! We're definitely creatures of convenience, but while I think all the technology will stay around and get better, I don't think we'll ever fully lose print books. (And I don't want to be around if we do!)
Hey, Melanie, you aren't the oldest by a long shot. I've got you beat. But I'm 58 going on 29! (smile) Anyway. Like you, I was a library lover. I was 6 when I got my first library card. But for birthdays and Christmas, then and NOW, I always asked for books. My husband converted to Kindle a few years ago, but I am very much still a printed word on paper sort of gal.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, though, that I am more hopeful than you about the future of books. All I have to do is open my Booklist newsletter to see that thousands of books are still being published (in print) every year.
I always said that they can have my books when they can pry them from my cold, dead hands. I say that about my landline telephone, too, so what do I know!
All the best to you in the future, Melanie!
Hi Melanie,
ReplyDeleteI'm not far behind you at 46! The closest thing we ever had to a computer at home was an electronic typewriter!!
I remember the old days of writing your name on the card in the library book. It makes me chuckle, now. I wonder how many would NOT have checked out "Fifty Shades" if their name had been on the card for the whole world to see. Privacy is definitely more of an issue these days!
I agree that e-books and audiobooks are going to dominate at some point in the future - but I think books in print will always have a place in the market. I just have a feeling, though, that the prices of books in print are at some point going to be higher than ebooks. At some point, books in print may even become "collectibles." All of us bibliophiles need to hang on to our books in print. They may be our retirement plan someday. : )
Great insight! Full points!
ReplyDelete