The other side of digital divide

On my birthday, I thought to gift myself a kindle. For the uninitiated (a lot of whom 
I met during last week), a kindle is a book reading device from amazon.com, which
can store thousands of books for you. So you have a nearly 300gm library with your
favorite books with you all the time. Since I am the kind of person who finds books 
simply irresistible, I knew I had to have it.

I had to get it from US since it was costlier to buy in India with shipping
charges n all. So I jogged my memory real hard to get all the possible
contacts in U.S. Through one good friend I finally ordered kindle and in
around two weeks I had my kindle in my hand. (Thanks Shreyans! :))

Gosh, it was one of the most memorable moments. The moment I held it my
mind swirled with the endless alternatives I was suddenly empowered with.
Now all I needed was to find a peaceful corner for myself and off I would
sail in my own world with my kindle for company. I didn’t have to depend on
TCS library or the local bookshops to get the latest books or any of my
favorite books.

Immediately as I got home, I switched it on, glanced through the user guide &
had my first book in it in less than a minute. With amazon.com the biggest online 
bookstore, at my disposal, I could have any book, whenever I wanted it. My joy 
knew no bounds.  The best part about kindle is that it doesn’t have the usual screen 
of a laptop or your monitor. It's electronic paper display makes reading absolutely 
natural. The eyes would never get strained.

Wooo ..and my mind started off on a journey again. Imagine kids going to
school with just a 300gm device in stead of 3 -4 kgs of books. So
liberating for those young shoulders! And why only school kids. Now I can
hit any of my favorite hangouts, treks or beaches without having to worry
about the extra load of books. And since I would buy original copies now, I
would finally be doing my bit towards discouraging piracy!
.
.
.

Almost a week later I called up my brother to share my experiences. I
didn’t have to tell him what was good about it, since he is a gadget freak.
But I had something to confess. And so I began …

'You know what bro. Every time I read from this kindle. I feel as if
something is missing. It’s great but it’s not the same as it was with
books. It’s like substituting a fruit with a capsule having the same
vitamins. I miss flipping the pages. May be they could have a touch-screen
to give that effect. And I can’t even see the previous page when I am
reading the next one as it is with the books. Ok I might be unreasonable
with this demand but it’s a device at the end of the day. And I got this
rude realization the day it choked & hanged up! C’mon! Real books never
hang!!!!!'

'May be I expected too much. But I don’t want to understand why I can’t read
from kindle in the dark. It shouldn’t have been a big deal to incorporate.
All my dreams of getting stranded on an island with my favorite books got
trashed.'

My brother had enough. He was like, ‘Sis I think you are still on the other
side of digital divide. I can’t say much except that you need time to grow
up on that and you need to give time to the poor kindle to grow up on you!
It’s the same with every technology, remember how awkward computers were in
the beginning’.

‘Well may be’ I persisted, to have the last word before he hung up, ‘but
do you think it would be the same feeling ... dozing off reading a book or
dozing off with a kindle! At least, I didn’t feel the same.’


(May be i should have titled it 'Confessions of a book lover!')