Printed Books vs Reading Machines: A View from the Hospital

One curiosity of my hospital stay is that I have the inclination to read. I also, thankfully, have the ability to read in relatively unencumbered positions. This situation led me to think about the advantages of printed books as opposed to the various reading gadgets on the market.

What's most interesting so far is that I'm finding a printed book much more convenient to handle, to read, and to store in a hospital environment. I don't have to provide electricity for a printed book. I can drop a book without fear of damage. I can spill things on a book (I'm not advocating this) and it's not the end of the world.

I can't do any of those things with a reading gadget. I am using a laptop computer now. For reading newspapers such as the Financial Times, blogs, and even viewing YouTube clips, the laptop is great. Obviously, the laptop makes writing this blog entry possible. The annoyance of a laptop is its relatively large size, implicit need for a stable surface, and electrical demands.

I have to imagine what Nooks, Kindles, and iPads are like in my restricted hospital environment. My own sense is that they would be unwieldy devices. Scrolling is inconvenient compared to turning a printed page. I don't need or want endless applications with which to fiddle. I'm hardly a technophobe: I have two cell phones, an iPodTouch and a laptop by my bed. I use all of them, though not all at the same time.

However, I'm most comfortable reading Raymond Chandler in book form, and that's what I have now. The words retain their power, and his well-written stories retain their marvel and their magic. And I'm seeing them the way Chandler intended: on a printed page. (Yes, that's Chandler in the photo.)