There has been a buzz over the latest technology on the market. To what I am referring is the newest Kindles and Sony Digital Readers which, in the shape of an ultra thin and portable book can contain many e-books that are purchased and downloaded over the internet.

While many enjoy the fact they are able to bring their entire book collection wherever they may choose to go, I am against this latest fad among the some of the most enthusiastic bibliophiles out there. On top of being highly pricy, there is always the chance of it breaking, getting lost, or stolen and if such a thing were to happen an entire collection of books would be lost, a major inconvenience even if it were to be replaced.
Then there is the fact that anyone purchasing one of these truly must love books which means they already have a collection either ranging from small to large, so to have books they already own on this device they would need to repurchase the book as an e-book, another large inconvenience on top of being a money issue. In my eyes and those of many other writers out there this is a disgrace to anyone who has ever had a book published or dreams of such. According to aspiring author Emily Kirchner,”I dislike the idea of it replacing standard books. There is something so convenient and special about having a book to carry around, dog-ear, and read wherever you are. If books only became available over the computer, they will be less portable and convenient. Reading will be less intimate”.

If they continue to rise, books in print might soon become extinct to the world. This would mean that writers would no longer be able to sell copies of their life work unless in digital form, this would cause us to truly lose the essence of what reading truly is.

Everyone has had that one book, no matter what age in their life that truly touched their soul that they will forever love, a special copy of the book they will always admire. A book that is yellowing, tearing, and twisting but still remains just as magical, if not more, as the very first time you picked it up. There is just something so special to me about walking in an antique book store and smelling that musty smell and knowing that all of these books have multiple stories, not just the ones their pages contain, but also that of the previous owners who have occasionally left small messages for people like myself to find, always a refreshing treat. All of these meaningful things may be lost like mist to the air unless we stop it in its tracks. Some fads stay for a while, some remain a classic forever, but I truly hope this is one of those that only has a short run before disappearing from the world forever, for the sake of the books.