Book vs. Kindle
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Regarding Richard Cohen's Aug. 5 op-ed, "The Book on the Shelf":
The Kindle is the best thing since the Internet was invented. I am a freelance journalist and read a minimum of four newspapers a day. But even before I became a journalist, I was an avid reader and information junkie.
As for doing away with the book as we know it, I see the Kindle as just one more way to enjoy books, newspapers and magazines. Once the iPod was developed, people didn't stop playing their CDs. And digital television recording didn't stop people from watching programs as they were being broadcast.
As for the book being warm and handy, the Kindle is even more handy. This week, I read The Post on the Kindle while getting a manicure. There is something about the print that is so much more readable than a computer screen and feels just like reading on paper. I admit, I instinctively would reach for a page to turn the first time I tried the Kindle, but that went away after the first hour. And the ability to increase the text size is fabulous, especially for those who find themselves without their reading glasses.
This is just one more technology that should be embraced. Hey, remember the days when we had to get up to change the TV channel?
SUSAN BERGER
Glencoe, Ill.
ยท
Like Richard Cohen, I lament the loss of bookstores and, no doubt, books themselves one day. But after reading his column, I immediately went to Amazon and bought "Her Privates We," the World War I memoir he commended. I couldn't help myself, no more than Mr. Cohen could help buying a Kindle, something I haven't yet done.
No doubt I'll also succumb to the inevitable one day and purchase a Kindle, but for now, at least, I'm still reading real books, many of which are, alas, bought through Amazon.
ED RADER
Alexandria
