I remember my first
response to E-readers. I think it matched the typical reaction that the average
person generally has to new media. When I was in 11th grade my mom got a Kindle
for Christmas. I wrote an entire paper about why I thought this wasn't a good
idea. No, I did not show it to my mom. It was for class.
But even then I had
a hard time writing that paper. I poured out my love for books onto those pages
as I wrote. I described the feeling of euphoria that accompanies picking up a
new book and smelling its fresh pages while fanning them out in front of my face
for the first time. I described how I loved the simple act of turning each page
to let the story unfold before my eyes. I loved books.
I still love books!
But I actually don't mind E-readers anymore. At first I thought they were a
terrible idea. I saw them as a threat to my beautiful books. I saw them as
mediums that could not convey the same message as a book, even if they
contained the same words. I thought that the world would become a world of
solely e-books and that I would have to build an underground shrine to my Harry
Potter collection.
That actually sounds
kind of fun. But I no longer think it's necessary.
I still agree that
the message feels different depending on the medium. I have yet to read one of
my favorite books online, but I have switched to online Gospel study. I have
noticed that as I have read the Book of Mormon through the Gospel Library App that
I feel the exact same Spirit that I feel when I read a hard copy. I learn just
as much. I love how I can quickly mark and make notes into the text, go back
and add things, delete old notes, and revise my writings. That would be kind of
a fun trick for an e-book.
So, if I feel the
same Spirit while reading the Book of Mormon online, I wonder if that would
hold for my other favorite books. I will always love the smell and feel of hard
copies. But it might be kind of fun to put my entire library online and carry
it around with me on one device.
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