To change is hard, especially in terms of habits. However, we live in a time of constant, predominately technological change that challenges us to adapt, often rapidly. While younger generations, who have grown up in this environment are able to adapt with ease, some ‘more set in their ways’ members of society such as myself, are not exactly enthusiastic about the ‘latest app on the market’ this doesn’t mean we are not going to ‘come around’, we just need more time.
Time and necessity were the catalysts that led me to the e-book, of which I had hardly heard before I published my first book, which was also to be the first e-book I have ever read. Naturally, I didn’t exactly fall in love with this new technology but I was impressed by its practicality and convenience. To buy/download a book took a few minutes, costing a fraction of the printed version. The thought of hundreds or thousands of books being stored in this little, portable thing called an e-reader and on my home computer, compared with a visualised extension to my house, fitted out with overflowing book shelves was mind changing. E-books do run out of battery, but it is much easier to recharge than to carry numerous printed books when travelling. The avid reader that I am, I got hooked within a relatively short period of time. It is true that I miss the ambience only a printed book can provide and many likeminded people tell me they are not interested in e-books. Ironically, some of them regularly jump to their i-phone in search for answers, rather than a printed dictionary.
Here I sit, reading a book in comfort for my ageing eyes, on a large computer screen. Whilst making use of the reversible four options/colours of highlighting, I have easy access to the world’s libraries, an e-book convert who doesn’t have to lift a finger, other than for a click on the mouse. ‘The invention of the printed book was the literary equivalent of that of the wheel, the e-book is the equivalent of the motor car’.