e-book haters, respect our privacy!

A friend posted this article on Facebook not so long ago.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/16/e-readers-make-reading-people-harder?CMP=twt_fd

It is an article taken from the Guardian, the newspaper that I probably respected the most. Until now.

If you cannot be bothered to read the article, it has been written by some stubborn woman with archaic views concerning the e-book. Apparently, she has searched for a good argument against e-books and in favour of their older, paper-based counterparts, and now she has found it. Drum roll please..... You can't tell what strangers are reading when they're reading a Kindle, meaning you can no longer judge them by what they read.

BOOM! That is genius! I'm going to contact Harvard Literary Review (or whatever the Shiterature journal equivalent of Harvard Business Review is) and inform them of your paper. In fact, I think this will get you a Nobel prize! A hard-earned million pounds there, because you have just made the Kindle totally obsolete with that killer argument.
As you said yourself, "case closed".

 
By the way, I was being a teeny bit sarcastic...


WHAT THE FUCK?! How is this complete and utter idiot writing for the Guardian? I know many people who can shit out more intelligent arguments than this fool, and SHE'S the one getting paid for this crap?! Oh no! Now I have a Kindle, complete strangers can no longer judge me by what I read! I am no longer vulnerable to others' scrutiny and bitching - what have I done?!! I can get away with reading self-help books on a train without strangers knowing that I am lacking in confidence - the audacity!!! People can now read erotica, or even ANYTHING THEY WANT TO in public - how dare they!

Now if someone wants to say "But Ollie, you could impress girls if you're seen reading Forbes magazine, and you're missing out by using your Kindle" then I'll respond with two things. 1) If people judge me by what I read before even talking to me, they're not worth a second of my time. 2) It surely makes me more mysterious, because people won't know what I'm reading, and it could facilitate a conversation starter (i.e. "Hey, what are you reading?")

The fact is, guys, that e-book devices are antiquating print books, as more advanced technology allows the reading devices to replicate paper on screen with e-ink particles. It is better ergonomically - I mean look at exhibit A, a nerdy kid at school who is struggling to carry his books due to playing Warhammer rather than going to the gym.

 But now, you can just store all that information on this, and there's no need to pump the iron and quit painting those figures or whatever Warhammer people do...

Not only that, but the Kindle can be used in one hand, so it's easier to read lying down, it downloads books in less than a minute, so you don't have to queue at WHSmith, and you can increase the size of the lettering, making reading glasses kinda obselete too.

Buying my Kindle inspired me to try reading again. The books I mentioned on yesterday's post were all read on my Kindle, not 'in the flesh'.

Kindles are awesome, and Amazon have sold more Kindle books this past fiscal year than paper-based books, showing their popularity in favour of their old-fashioned counterparts.

So yeah, that's basically it for today. Let e-book readers read what they want, and mind your own business. I don't think, somehow, that people will mourn not knowing what complete strangers are reading. If that's the best argument people have remaining against the e-book, then God help the  intelligence of our society.

Rant over
Ollie