29 March 2010

kids say the darndest things.


well, not kid kids, but older kids, say college students. current wisdom suggests that college kids wanna be all over these new "e-books." especially, textbooks. they're not heavy, they say.

well, here are the opinions of two such college students. the first, madelyn kearns from the university of maine, is titled digital age opens new chapter on how people read books.

i'm afraid i don't agree with her viewpoint (she of the "i love the smell . . .") variety. she also makes note of "the way they (books) contrast with one another on my shelf. To scroll through my literary gems in a digital playlist feels as though some of the culture and tradition would be lost." funny, that somehow doesn't apply when mp3 users scroll through their music playlists. i haven't heard a lot of wistful nostalgia about scanning my library of CDs in their jewel cases. but, i'm just being argumentative. ok, CRANKY!

the second op-ed is from marina cella at marist college. her article is titled e-books detract from bookstore browsing experience. once again, the smell of new books seems to be the new aphrodisiac (who knew?). along with the smell of coffee. this article, i admit, made me a little cuckoo. although i think it is the author who is a little cuckoo (and, self-admittedly, clumsy). i'll let you judge this one on your own.

btw - make sure you read the comments too! the proverbial coin . . .

so, there you have it. two college students who seem to like the old-fashioned way of doing things, as long as it holds some nostalgia for them. sorry, vinyl records. maybe if you smelled better . . .

happy reading . . . no matter the format!

2 comments:

  1. I was going to say that LPs are probably more what people get nostalgic for - flipping through them, listening to them in little booths, touching the covers and looking at the glossy pictures (at least, this is what I assume people did, from watching movies).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just came across this post. Thanks! I enjoyed them and will share them with the other librarian's in my system!

    ReplyDelete