Kindle

[Quijote]

Kindle? Paper? Hey guys, I'm still using papyrus, know what I mean? Excuse me a moment, Cleopatra wants a word with me ...

[Sorrano]

Doesn't paper make good kindling? Or papyrus?

[Enrique]

One more note I want to add. The difference between reading from a Kindle Fire and a Kindle is such that I will choose the Kindle long term reading because it is easy on the eyes. The Kindle Fire fits in nicely with what Enrique has been talking about; it can be hard on the eyes, but having used the Kindle for years I cannot distinguish any real difference from reading from real pages other than the reflection issues from lighting.

You say the Kindle thing is more handy than a book. I must disagree. Currently books tend to be large, very large and thick. Novelists seem to be writing enclicopeadias or emulating War and Peace. When I was a child, even, a book like this one would be published in two volumes, each of them handy enough to allow comfortable reading. I use to travel in the bus, and see people, women specially, holding those immense books. Well, the paper is very white and the typing superior to what was used back in those days generally.

But large or small (there still are pocket books) there is this: reading a text book, I can have it open at several places, using my fingers, and to jump from one place to the other is a very fast movement, which at the same time lets you compare the two pages at a glance. No comparison with computers, believe me.

I think there comes a point in the history of a civilization when certain things are ripe and will remain unrivaled through centuries if not thousands of years. The postal system is one. Roads are another. Paper, the newest, still another one. These satisfy the basic physical needs of civilization, among some others. Any further improvement or sophistication only corrupts the system and the society living in it. This is not the time to produce myself in these matters. So, for the sake of brevity, I'll make no attempt at justifying these rather bold statements.

[Sorrano]

If you did have inclination to actually use a Kindle I would be interested in your response afterword. It is true that you cannot flip back and forth, hold fingers in places within the Kindle, nor drop it without fear of damaging the article. There are some things that you can do, such as get the definition of a word by merely placing the cursor over the word. There is a built in dictionary which has been very useful to me. Bookmarks can hold places where fingers might hold in a book, but it is not as easy to turn back here and there, quickly, as you can in a book. Nonetheless, my response to Megan's question regarding the Kindle is to recommend it based on what I've earlier stated. Do not worry, Enrique, that I will throw away my books; I still read them just as much as I do the Kindle. You can never have too many books and I do allow for every format possible. The proliferation of knowledge and availability of the classical literature in our age is astounding and is at anyone's fingertips that has access to the Internet.

[Enrique]

Yes, Sorrano, I can testify to this. English is not my language, but at sites like Gutenberg or the Internet Archive, or the Petrucci Library for printed music, with what ought to be good discographies. one can find many of the treasures of the past. I benefit from it, for it is possible to enjoy and improve one's English at the same time. If I had one in my hands, maybe I'd be ready to make some concessions but. frankly, my pocket would not afford it. It really seems you are fond of this appliance.

Do not think, please, I am against every thing that is new. I was always fond of audio, which had something new to say every year, and later of computer programming, which is the way I earn my life and, sometime in the past, was generally seen as sort of a future land machine. As to the former, the same as you with the Kindle and the computer, translated to music, it put at my reach what in my city I could not hear. Even living in London, where the Fifth symphony must be played once a month, the accessibility of music through the hi-fi is far greater. And of course you want to hear it really hi-fi. And computers, well... it's great to make them execute one's instructions in a totally mechanical way and so fast. About dislikes... I dislike a lot of things but, fortunately, they are of little moment and substance. I hope you are doing well with the new Hercules' labours the Don has imposed upon us.

[Sorrano]

As long as we utilize these new things as tools to aid in forward motion we will do well with them, but there are always dangers in in obsessing with things and the technology has lent itself well to that sort of thing (smartphones, social networking, etc.) and some people forget how to live in the real world. Yes, I am fond of the Kindle, but as a tool to give me access to more reading material than I would otherwise have.