good old textbooks

I got a new phone. Here is a picture I took with it. Marginally better quality than the old one, huh?

On the radio this morning they were talking about how technology is advancing and how many things will soon be obsolete, such as CDs, DVDs, Blockbusters, and textbooks. "Textbooks?" I asked Jack Diamond (my favorite radio personality). Apparently you can save a bundle by getting your textbooks in electronic format. Now this may be fine for many people, and to them I say, "This may be fine for you." However, it is not fine for me. You may say, "Kimberly, you are too old if you can't stand the idea of studying from a laptop or Kindle." To that I say, "Not so." I love new technologies and embrace them with all my heart, excepting electronic textbooks.

There is something primal in me that loves paper. I tried using an electronic planner, but that went the way of all the world. For one thing, a worker bee in my profession cannot bring an electronic device into a classified hive. For another thing, I just like being able to write with a red pen and chew on a highlighter as I wield it bravely. I like to be able to quickly flip through the pages and practically be able to see the whole of the text at once.

Plus isn't there just something about shelves full of musty old books, the more and the mustier the better? They make you feel like a scholar. They feel nice to the touch. Don't you just love the sound the binding makes if it is really old? In some cases you can display them to show that you have conquered them.

You can print out the textbook in chunks, but wouldn't that be expensive, and defeat the purpose anyway? You'd have to use one of those awkward paper binding clips. Aubrey has some beautiful paper binding clips that she got for Christmas, but even they can't hold a candle to a hardbound book.

I just made the above point with a coworker, and he pointed out that, with a book in electronic format, you can conduct a search more easily. AND you can obviously carry them around much easier. AND some people might just learn better with an electronic book. To him (my coworker) I say touche.

So really it comes down to personal preference. My preference is trees. I like trees. Paper textbooks will never go away completely.

Words of the day: commensurate and repository, both of which I used this morning in my speech. Lower case speech, not a formal Speech or anything.