{"id":599,"date":"2010-12-29T13:39:13","date_gmt":"2010-12-29T18:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=599"},"modified":"2015-03-13T17:31:51","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T21:31:51","slug":"me-and-my-kindle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2010\/12\/me-and-my-kindle\/","title":{"rendered":"Me and my Kindle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

When it comes to reading electronic books, or e-books, I was an agnostic.<\/p>\n

All that changed over the holidays.<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m a believer.\u00a0 I have seen the light.\u00a0 It emanates from a little grey pad of plastic called a Kindle.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My in-laws gave me a Kindle<\/strong> <\/a>(Amazon\u2019s version of an e-reader) for Christmas.\u00a0 Minutes after unpacking it from the box, I was downloading books, excerpts, free samples, games, magazines, newspapers, you name it.<\/p>\n

I have to confess: I am in love with this thing.\u00a0 (Don\u2019t tell my wife.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s ridiculous, I know.\u00a0 But it\u2019s just so darn\u2026cool.\u00a0 I am still in awe of the fact that I could potentially carry 3,000 books in something that could fit inside a manila envelope.\u00a0 I stare at the wall of books lining our apartment and think: \u201cYou guys could be history.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think of all the money we could have saved on shelving.<\/p>\n

The sociological impact of this tiny device cannot be underestimated.\u00a0 I\u2019m seeing it on the subway when I travel to work \u2013 more people are carrying it instead of a newspaper or book to read on the way.\u00a0 (Can you download Sodoku?\u00a0 I wonder\u2026.) This means a tremendous saving of space (thank God) but it also means, sadly, that the great art of How To Fold A Newspaper Into Quarters To Read on the Train will soon be gone \u2013 becoming as primitive and exotic as origami.<\/p>\n

I first latched on to the possibilities of electronic reading over the summer, when I managed to download a version of the Liturgy of the Hours onto my iPod.\u00a0\u00a0 I also have a copy of the daily missal on it \u2013 which means I have every reading for mass, plus every reading for the Liturgy of the Hours, forever, in a metal and plastic box only slightly larger than a credit card.<\/p>\n

I feel like George Jetson.<\/p>\n

The electronic revolution in reading is undeniably convenient, portable, user-friendly, accessible and fun.<\/p>\n

But \u2013 and this is not insignificant \u2014 it\u2019s also just a little bit unsatisfying.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve discovered that, as much as I love my new 21st<\/sup> century toys, there is a lot to be said for actually holding a book in your hands, feeling its heft, turning its pages, seeing the dog-ears left behind and the pencil marks in the margins.\u00a0 There is the moving of ribbons, the inserting of a bookmark, the hushed sound of a two- pound tome being returned to its place on the shelf.<\/p>\n

What I\u2019m talking about, I think, is something that can only be called the Reading Experience \u2013 the sensual contact of finger to paper, the faint smell of the ink and glue and binding, the sound of a page as it turns, the comforting appearance of Times Roman type.\u00a0 Reading a newspaper on an e-reader isn\u2019t the same as holding it in your hands, damp after it was left on your doorstep in the rain, and seeing the words bleed into one another, and breathing deep of the aroma of information, as newsprint and ink and advertising leave stains on your fingertips.\u00a0\u00a0 This is the way so many people read about Gettysburg, and the Armistice, and Pearl Harbor and Watergate.\u00a0 It\u2019s woven, somehow, into our DNA.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong.\u00a0 I love what I\u2019m able to do with my Kindle and iPod, and can\u2019t wait to see what the wizards at Apple and Amazon will come up with next.\u00a0\u00a0 But I\u2019ve also been reminded that reading is more than just words on a page.\u00a0 It is, truly, an experience.\u00a0 It would be a tragedy for us to lose that experience, for the sake of being modern or efficient.<\/p>\n

Not long ago, I read about an Italian priest who developed an application that would make it possible to celebrate mass from an iPad. <\/strong><\/a> It will be the same mass.\u00a0 The words and prayers and effects \u2013 consecration of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ \u2013 will all be the same.<\/p>\n

But will it be the same experience?\u00a0\u00a0 Will the priest perceive what he is doing differently?\u00a0 Will the \u201ccool\u201d medium of an iPad be different from the \u201chot\u201d medium of an open book?\u00a0 Will it affect the celebrant somehow?\u00a0 Will people perceive any difference?<\/p>\n

I hope not.\u00a0 But I have to wonder.<\/p>\n

P.S. <\/strong>For those who have asked: the first book I downloaded was \u201cCan You Drink the Cup?\u201d<\/a><\/strong> by Henri Nouwen, with a forward by (Deacon) Ron Hansen.\u00a0 I\u2019m curious: if you have an e-reader, what was your<\/em> first book??<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to reading electronic books, or e-books, I was an agnostic. All that changed over the holidays. Now, I\u2019m a believer.\u00a0 I have seen the light.\u00a0 It emanates from a little grey pad of plastic called a Kindle. My in-laws gave me a Kindle (Amazon\u2019s version of an e-reader) for Christmas.\u00a0 Minutes after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,33],"tags":[82,303,505],"class_list":["post-599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-my-world-and-welcome-to-it","tag-amazon","tag-e-books","tag-kindle"],"yoast_head":"\nMe and my Kindle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When it comes to reading electronic books, or e-books, I was an agnostic. All that changed over the holidays. 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