There are two kinds of people, ones who read and ones who claim to. While adding important sounding names to the bookmark application on Facebook is hip, not many actually find the time to read those titles. But if Gutenberg was the father, then Apple/Amazon could very well be the godfathers of books, for thanks to their Kindle and I-Phones, reading is back in vogue and like never before.
While Kindle is a wireless reading device that can store up to 1,500 books in its paper thin frame, the I-phone has a book download application that enables reading of as many e-books as one desires.
Rajat Singhal says his I-phone gives him greater ease to read and store the phone. “I have been reading a lot more than earlier as I don’t need to carry anything extra apart from my phone. And it comes with an inbuilt dictionary application, which helps me search any word instantly,” he tells us adding that his I-phone book application also helps him use professional books for immediate references, without carrying a whole pile around.
Not that books will ever be out of fashion, but these devices are popular thanks to their compact size and contemporary feel.
Varun Verma, who is a business analyst, feels that flipping pages constantly gets tiresome, so these gadgets are more fun to use. “Usually e-books come with lot more graphics and illustrations than regular books, so naturally they make reading more interesting,” he says.
But the romance of a book never dies, not when it comes to a true book lover like Sikandar Maitra Kumar, who thinks reading too much on these devices could give one a headache. “Books have a history attached to them and one can read them in any posture. Besides they have a certain feel to them, which these plastic gadgets can’t replicate,” he says.