Why Ereaders Aren't Going to Destroy Books

I’d like to talk to you today about e-readers. Ok, no I actually wouldn’t. They’re everywhere. I don’t even own one and I feel like they’re taking over my life, not only because everyone on the El seems to have one, but because the media can’t seem to stop talking about them. And it is exciting – they’ve reinvigorated a dying industry (i.e. publishing) and after all the doom and gloom, it was time the newspaper industry got a break, too. But now we have to deal with the incessant conversation of “is traditional print media dead?”
 
It’s a debate that the media loves to have because it’s a generational debate. Just the other day I was talking to my mother, who is notoriously afraid of technology, and listened to her sigh and say in frightened resignation that it seemed like the “whole world” was going digital (except she didn’t use the word digital because she doesn’t use computer speak). But even as a child of the technological age and a fan of all the things it’s brought along with it I still have to say: No. No, technology isn’t going to stage a hostile takeover.
 
Here’s a fun little anecdote, well, fun for you and me anyway: So a guy has a smart phone, right? And this guy loses it, except it has the calendar for keeping track of his wife’s cycle (they use natural rhythm contraception) then he goes home and things happen and because he doesn’t have his phone and thus the calendar these two are proud new parents to be. C’est la vie, eh? It’s a funny story that could only happen in our generation, but it also speaks to an important fact – there are pros and cons to relying too heavily on technology. (Also, why would you let your boyfriend be in control of something like your rhythm calendar?....)
 
Just today there was a story in the New York Times about how kids prefer real books over e-books because you don’t have to worry about them shutting down or malfunctioning on you. I also think there’s something appealing about the tactile feel of a book, the satisfaction of turning each page by finger, of closing it when it’s done. And it’s not just books – I once worked on an advertising strategy (in a class) for a grocery delivery service. When we went over some data we found that one of the biggest reasons people don’t use the service is they like going to the grocery store. They like the sensation of going through the aisles, squeezing the produce. Humans are sensual creatures, we need something other than a computer screen to interact with and that is never going to change.
 
Now, this isn’t to say that technology won’t have any impact. It’s going to change the way we communicate on every level, it already has. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to destroy the things we still love, it’s not a monster. We have a say over it… and I think therein lies the heart of the argument and why I think all this hullabaloo is just an older generation raging against a technological age that threw them off guard: they didn’t get to choose, they didn’t get to say. The world as they knew it changed and they had to adapt and I think that was hard and scary in a way our generation and those to follow will never fully understand. So as much as I get a little miffed when I read things about how sexting is an epidemic that’s destroying our youth or that books won’t exist in 50 years, it also makes me a little sad because I think it’s not just the thing that they’re afraid of, it’s that some of us don’t have a sense of control over how technology has changed the playing field and the very lives we live.