(Sam finds this all very amusing, since he remembers my first horrified reaction to the idea of an E-book. It went along with my disdain for using computers to communicate with other people. I seem to have changed my mind about several things in the last, oh, 20 years.)
One thing about the Kindle struck me as I tossed the bag of library books into my car this morning. The Kindle's great for me - I can afford it - but our underfunded public library won't be downloading books any time soon. They've done a great job finding and maintaining computers, a boon to the inner city folks who don't have their own, but they need real books. They need real books so that people who can't buy Kindles can still read. I don't keep the paperback mysteries I buy - I donate them to the library, or pass them on to friends, and now I won't be doing that.
The library will still benefit from the hefty overdue fines I always pay, but I realize I'm contributing to the increasing stratification between the haves and the have-nots in American society.
I meant my post yesterday to be a lighthearted rationalization for giving myself a present. Rationalizations are cover stories for the real reasons we do things. In this case, the real reason is that I'm having a tough couple of weeks and I want a reward, and I happen to like gadgets. I don't feel guilty about that - and I'll enjoy my Kindle when it comes - but I need to check my privilege, too, and think about ways to support public insitutions as well as (or even more than) private corporations.
5 comments:
I've been thinking about getting one, but I have yet to see one in real life... I hate buying anything sight unseen. But e-books are amazing. For instance, there is no possible way that I could be working on my dissertation now (what with a six-week-old on my lap) without Google books. I guess what I'm saying is - good for you, Jay! Tell us how you like the Kindle when you get it.
P.S. Jane Eyre = awesome.
Jane Eyre = awesome is why you are writing a thesis on 19th century literature and I am not :-)
I wouldn't have bought it sight unseen, either; about six months ago a patient brought one in to show me and I got to handle it and read it. Next time I see you, Anna, I'll share!
A friend of mine who just spent a year in Norway bought one before she left. At the time she was quite excited about it, but I have not heard any updates from her about the Kindle. I'm kind of torn. I have shelves and shelves of books that are going to have to go if we are downsizing, but I love the feel of a book in my hands. With you it's the library, with me, it's the bookstores. they will go out of business without me.
Sometimes when I want something that I clearly don't need (hello, fourth pair of sandals,) I will buy it but donate its price to charity as well. It either makes me feel better about the purchase's moral dimension, or (less often) keeps me from purchasing something that I don't want badly enough.
AB
Post a Comment