The Reluctant Kindle Convert
“The more man flies to the moon, the more I want to look at a tree.” -Audrey Hepburn
Despite my amateur proficiency in the technological world, I identify far more with Audrey’s sentiment. Technology is becoming more and more integrated into our lives and I find myself fighting it more and more.
As an avid reader from the time I was, oh, maybe four, books have played a very important role in my life. Nothing can replace the feel and smell of the paper and binding glue. Yes, the binding glue. The ability to take notes in the margins and dog-ear pages featuring quotes you want to remember is irreplaceable. Feeling a sense of accomplishment when you pick up an Ayn Rand novel and can say you actually finished it. All 1,000+ pages.
You don’t get any of those feelings with a Kindle or Nook. The digital versions of books don’t smell like libraries, the pages don’t rustle as you flip through them, you can’t use a pen to make a note or draw a doodle in the margins. The sense of accomplishment is lessened when you cannot see every single page that you have read. Needless to say, I fought digital books for a long, long time.
Then I started traveling more. Again, as an avid reader, I always have a book with me wherever I go. Traveling was no exception. And vacation time? That is the best time to read, so you definitely need to take multiple books with you. Many times I had two or three books in my suitcase, just in case I finished what I was reading and needed more material. Imagine taking books four, five and six in the Harry Potter series with you on vacation. The hard covers (because of course you buy the hard covers because they are far superior). It could be quite cumbersome. So one day I let my husband talk me into a Kindle. And I have not looked back.
The world opened up as I discovered the ability to carry hundreds of books in something the size of a steno pad. No longer would I need to carry heavy books to satisfy my craving to read. The Kindle fit in my purse, I could carry it everywhere I went. And vacations? Changed forever. Never again would I exhaust my reading material. As if this were not enough, I soon discovered that the public library owned digital copies of many of their books that can easily be borrowed through their app. What? You mean I don’t even need to buy all of the books I want to read?
Maybe, just maybe, in this instance, technology isn’t so bad.
Aimee has spent the past we won't say how many years working on the marketing side of the A/E/C industry, bridging the technical with the creative through clever proposals and various marketing pieces. This experience has intensified her affinity for proper grammar, brand standards and white space. When not creating proposals or interesting memes, Aimee spends her time writing, reading, playing with her Irish wolfhound, drinking coffee, hiking, and being an all-around nerd. There is not a game out there she won't play or a mountain she won't climb. Except maybe K2; that one is scary. Her blog, LivingLifeSpherically, is about finding yourself and being brave enough to be you.