Battle of the Hard Copy - 12 Years On

Came across this post of mine from 12 years ago :

Battle of the Hard Copy  Write-Place (wwwrite-place.blogspot.com 

in which I write that in the battle of 'book versus e.reader', I would argue for the case of The Book, to the bitter end.  Granted, I was talking about something called a 'View Quest Mediabox' which at the time was £52 and half the price of a Kindle, but oh, how new technology and age changes one's views.

Apparently, at the time this 5 inch wonder could not only store hundreds of books but you could watch videos, listen to music and use a voice recorder on it. Clearly in 2011, the Smart Phone as we know it today had not reached me, or at least, I could not afford one then. I did get a Kindle like this 

which a quick Google search tells me was brought out by Amazon in September 2011. I soon lost interest in it as I could not get to grips with the turning the page buttons forward and back and as the device does not have a touch screen, for me the 'search' facility was quite laborious. (I have the same frustration with my television and remote control when typing text to search  - but I do appreciate that this may be due to the age/type of my TV set. Are there touch screen TVs with touch screen remotes ? No doubt this is something that has passed me by).

In the past post I noted that it may have been the voice recorder facility which drew my attention to the device advertised, even wondering how I could be managing my life without it. I have a number of  times purchased a 'dictaphone' style device, even one in my early days of writing with tiny little cassettes tapes which could be fast forwarded or run backwards. The technology of the time defeated me, however, as I found that in the time that I had taken to record some information and replay it and amend it, I could have easily had the text written by hand and typed up just as quickly. As for reading itself, I found that yes, I could read whilst sat in the garden or whilst hanging onto a tube train strap as shown in the adverts, but could not do without my glasses - prescription sunglasses in the garden/outside scenario. Then, I could only read on the Kindle in bed with the light on, which wasn't ideal so I might as well read a book with my head torch or book light on. 

As time passed, it became clear to me that if the device does not have an e-ink screen, I might as well get e books on my laptop, Notepad computer and later still on my Samsung phone. 

"And all the time in the back of my mind is the thought that these items are helping towards the demise of real books, bookshops and libraries. Haven't I just last weekend signed petitions for keeping libraries open ? There really is nothing better than having a 'hard copy' book which can be read anywhere, anytime and unless it's the complete set of Encyclopaedia Brittanica, easily transportable. Add to this the fact that I  bought 3 new books from just ordered 2 from Amazon today and I really have to wonder what I was thinking of."

Now, in 2023, with advancing age and poorer eyesight, particularly after having surgery more than once on my right eye, I am relying more on the new Kindle bought for me a couple of years ago. It can be read anywhere and in the dark and the text can be enlarged or lightened up as necessary and is sadly taking the place of 'real books' for me. 

I have recycled much of my book collection to charity shops or passed on to friends and saved only the books of most importance and sentimental value to me. It was a sad day indeed when I recently bought 4 books from a local charity shop and found that the text was almost impossible for me to read, so returned them and bought the e versions for my Kindle. 

I am grateful for the treatment and care that I have received from the Vitreoretinal Surgery team at Royal Hallamshire Hospital and thankful for the technology discovered and used, which never fails to astound me and enriches so many peoples lives.