I’m sure most know the story of Farenheit 451. After reading this book during my high school years, the main question to our teacher was, “would this ever be possible?” She asked us and most agreed that it could be possible – maybe not to the extent of firemen actually burning the books but to the point where books would be obsolete.

I love the smell of books and the feel of the pages as I flip through them in the local Barnes and Noble. But I feel as though that these days of paper and bindings may be slowly coming to an end. With the internet and computers in general now being necessary in our lives and the creation of Amazon’s Kindle, I feel as though books may be a thing of the past.

I have nothing against the Kindle: quick downloads at your fingertips (you don’t even have to go to the bookstore to get a book!), you can still read the screen, not only can you read leisurely but you can also download textbooks, all of the downloads are much cheaper because the cost of paper, shipping, and paying a middleman is out of the way, etc. However, not only can you download books and have a thin piece of technology to hold, but it can also read the book to you; and not in that monotoned voice that often mispronounces words. There is also a Kindle 2 which can browse the web but it requires that documents be converted to specific files that can be done through Amazon at an additional cost. I feel as though this takes away from the reading experience. Granted, you can follow along as it reads to you; however, young people often try to “get out” of reading as much as they can or college students listen as they do the dishes or clean up their rooms.

The Kindle runs from battery life that gives about 2 hours (give or take) of reading time. For some people, this is more than enough time while for others this is nothing; especially if at the beach or curled up next to a fire during the Christmas season.

So, is this creation for the better, or worse? Will it lead to the destruction of books? Or will it simply be a trend that will die down? I’m hoping that this trend is just that because the leather covers and off-white pages of classics are my best friends when it comes to a warm blanket and hot cocoa next to the Christmas tree or the soft covers that bend back and large print of light reading while basking in the sun.

Literature, Technology