Technology

It's official. Technology is out to completely take over my life. I just caught myself thinking about how nice it would to have a Nook from Barnes and Noble.

Now, to the average person, this may seem like a completely normal thought. To me, it's a sign of the Apocalypse. Okay, maybe not quite that dramatic, but it's a pretty big deal if you know me. I'm a big fan of books. I've been a bookworm since I first memorized "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." I'm constantly adding books to my list of books to read (currently reading Eat, Pray, Love...next is Lolita and then 1984 if I have time before classes start). There's something about going into a bookstore and thumbing through the shelves to find a book to buy and take home to read. There's something about the actual paperback that I love about books. I love being able to highlight my textbooks and take notes in the margins. I love going into someone's home or a professor's office and browsing their bookshelves. The books they read can say a lot about their character.

A Nook would take all of that away from me. The joy I find in spending hours in a bookstore. The joy I find in sitting down with a my nose in a book. A Nook (or a Sony Reader or Kindle) takes my love of reading and computerizes it. It would never be the same if I caved and bought a Nook/Reader/Kindle. I'm kind of afraid of the day that having a Nook/Kindle/Reader is mainstream, and few people own actual books. I'll be one of those "old fashioned" people when that day comes that will have the multiple bookshelves full of books.

Now, if my textbooks were available on a Nook/Kindle/Reader, with margin note taking abilities, I might cave and get one. But until then, it's not going to happen.

I leave you with a quote that I heard a long time ago when I was a kid: "A room without books is like a body without a soul." -Cicero