17 September 2008

Luddites?

This story on the BBC Magazine site is of particular interest to me as my wife and I await the delivery of her latest toy, the Sony Reader. As diligent 21st century consumers, before we decided to order it we looked at a million* reviews on the web. We decided that the electronic book will never replace the paper book, but that we could see real benefits to having one.

Unlike me, my wife is one of those people who will regularly devour a novel in a couple of days. For her, an electronic book is just great. It means that we will no longer need to carry half a ton of reading matter on every holiday.

More than many other emerging technologies, this one seems to have rattled a lot of people. I feel I need to point out that no-one is going to force people to swap their library card for a memory stick! Books will not be sucked into a black hole created by Sony in collaboration with CERN! In fact, even if you buy an electronic book, it is rumoured that you will still be entitled to own traditional books too.

I suppose that I'm saying that there's room for lots of different technologies here. Perhaps the fervent critics should chill out a bit and just avoid buying a Sony Reader; after all, abstinence is the most powerful tool at the consumer's disposal.

If you're interested in the product and want a good honest review, have a look here.


*slight exaggeration

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