eReaders.

Image obtained from: http://frelibrary.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/ipad-ereaders.jpg

In my experience, they’re annoying things. As far as innovation and being compact go, they’re great. They grant me access to information with inbuilt lights, allowing me to read in the dead of the night. They’re also easier to carry around than a load of books. However, in owning an iPad, and having tried to upload and organise various documentation onto it, I have come to the conclusion that eReaders are burdensome. 

Call me old fashioned, but there’s a certain satisfaction of etching notes along the side of a page, which eReaders just don’t allow. Alongside this, I have always felt that highlighting within a text has always been of significant importance - and whilst eReaders may have a similar function, it just isn’t the same. 

A digital screen, which allows me to zoom, bookmark, digitally archive, and so on, just doesn’t compare to scribbling a note, highlighting a point, a post-it-ing a page for future reference. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that eReaders are bad, they’re just not my cup of tea. Prejudice aside, I can see why there’s such an insane global market for them. Alongside being compact and ergonomic, they’re just plain cool - like something out of a science fiction novel. 

If anyone has watched one of Apple’s advertising campaigns for their iPad, you’ll know what I mean. They’re designed to do so much- to revolutionise they way we think and act. That’s paraphrased of course, but you get the general gist. After having watched one such ad, there are one of two feelings you are left with:

i) You can’t help but feel a sense of helplessness, and now have a longing to own an iPad due to such clever marketing, or;

ii) You see right through the ad, and produce something like this to educate others into what they’re buying into:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW37nPzpAwY

I’m not here to sway your perception of the iPad, these are simply my views. But what do I know? I was the sucker who feel for the ad in the first place. I guess in the end, love ‘em or hate ‘em, eReaders are  making a solid impact in the world, and they’re here to stay. Whether or not that impact is known is another story

‘til next time.