So, usually Andrew is the one writing a blog about some new technological gadget he’s all gaga about, but I’m actually going to venture into the gadgetsphere and toss this idea out for discussion.  I’ve just happened upon some information about the Kindle, a new electronic reading device designed and distributed by Amazon.com.  It’s kind of Star Trekky, but it seems really cool.  In just about every futuristic sci-fi show there is, people no longer read their literature off of actual physical paper.  No, they’ve all got some hand held mini-computer that has access to all the great literary works, from the classics to today’s newspaper (digital though that paper may be).  And since we all know that Star Trek inspires today’s product development (think the flip phone), it makes sense that making this electronic book thing a reality was only a matter of time. 

Of course, ebooks have been around for several years now.  You can purchase and download a book and read it on your computer.  The problem with that is that nobody wants to curl up on the sofa with their laptop.  They’re heavy and awkward and staring at a computer screen for long periods of time can hurt your eyes.  So the whole ebook thing has never really caught on with the general public.  However, this new product, the Kindle, promises to overcome these issues.  It’s small, lighter than your average paperback, and has the ability to download any book, newspaper, blog or wikipedia entry in seconds without hooking up to a computer or charging any wireless connection fees.  Seriously.  No contracts.  After your initial purchase price, you pay only for each book that you download, most of which are under $10, quite a bit cheaper than a paper book (For example, I was looking for New Moon, by Stephanie Meyer.  The hard copy at Amazon was $20 plus shipping, the Kindle version was $6 and could be downloaded for free in less than a minute).  In addition, its display screen mimics the actual printed page of a three-dimensional book, including font size and type, headers and footers, and illustrations.  They say the Kindle “disappears” as you read it, in the same way that you are no longer consciously aware of the physical paper of a normal book that you read. So, anyway, go check out the website to get an idea of what I’m talking about: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI73MA/ref=sv_kinc_0  There are a couple of interviews, like with Martha Stewart and Toni Morrisson, that are really interesting.

So, my question is, do you think that we as a society will ever really make the full conversion to digital literature?  I mean, I’m sure that there will always be hard copies of books around, for decorative purposes if nothing else!  But do you really think that book clubs will one day all bring their Kindles (or whatever the improved product of the future is) over to someone’s house for a discussion and goodies?  Do you think that English teachers will tell children to pull out their Kindles and ask everyone to download chapters 12-15?  Instead of picking up our morning paper off of the sidewalk, will we sit down and press a button instead?  I don’t know.  It’ll be interesting to see as the future unfolds.  In the meantime, I think I’ll still be picking up my reading material at the three dimensional library, at least until that $359 price tag comes down quite a bit.