The reflex reactions of a booklover

The idea of an electronic book was to me instantly unappealing. For a while it was possible to ignore it, but then there came the news that for the first time a book, who knows what is was, had sold more copies as an ebook than as a physical book. It was around Christmas. I remember sitting on the sofa discussing it with my Nan, and I remember feeling dread at the news. It was the omen of a trend destined to continue. It was the beginning of an end. I’m sure there are many people who have reacted in the same way. What are the reasons we can give for this feeling?

The book, that universal ubiquitous object, that symbol of so much, how could it be replaced by something as cold and sterile as pixels on a computer screen. How could anyone read a whole book on a computer screen? It just wouldn’t feel nice on the eyes. Is there a way of objectively measuring the stress on the eyes of reading a book on a computer screen as opposed to paper? Even if there is, the more general issue is probably not going to be objectively decided either way, and perhaps that wouldn’t be the most important thing anyway. More important is what people think, what this human race makes of it and how this human race deals with the new version of the book we are presented with.

When I try to find solid reasons why the paper book is better than the electronic version, I struggle. It’s difficult for any of these reasons to not be attributed to force of life-long habit. Here’s an attempt anyway:

Reading a real book is a more involved experience, it’s more of an experience, there are more sensations involved. And surely an experience that communicates more sensory information and thus opportunity for sensory pleasure, must be of more worth? Real books give you the satisfying touch of the paper as you turn another page, to mark each small achievement, and if indeed every page read is an achievement of sorts, then this achievement needs to be celebrated. The feeling of the rough page on your fingers has more saliency than the touch of a button.  Is this important? Or is this all merely sentiment? On the surface, yes it may seem like sentiment but these things matter. These things have latent effects. However, such effects may be overpowered by other influences, like for instance the immense convenience of having many books in one light, portable kindle-type thing. And only such a cursory concession to the electronic book reveals its immediate practical benefits and how easy it is to promote to a young, progressive, future-oriented global society. This worries me. How do I find a way to rationalise my aversion to the electronic book? And if I can’t find a way, then maybe I should think about revising that opinion.