I've got mixed feelings about the recent failure of the Borders chain of book stores. On the one hand I don't like that it seems the death of the book is finally at its beginning as well as the human cost in terms of jobs which is something I'm sadly all too aware of, and on the other I have some optimism that some time in the future this will precipitate the rise (resurrection? I don't know, I haven't been reading for that many years) of independent book stores, that have a bit of soul about them and don't just stock thousands of copies of whatever sentimental trash Oprah is touting that week.
So in order to tide myself over until that glorious day I bought a Kindle. There are various reasons for this that overrode my conscience about destroying the retail market of physical books, the first and most salient is this: eBooks are cheaper! I don't blame this on the retailers, I blame this on the government. Something about Australia's trade policy is so fucktarded that everything in this country is comparatively more expensive than it is elsewhere in the world and for no apparent reason other than Australia being a closed market as a lonely Western outcrop in the middle of Asia. And it's not just for 'obscure' things like books, iTunes, Coca-Cola, they're all in on it. Well, I say 'balls to that!'.
The second reason is selection, I live in the hub of unculturalism of Sydney: The West. Don't get me wrong I love it here, I love it a shitload better than the East. But nonetheless, finding a decent book out here is a chore and I'm a lazy, lazy man. I can't help but notice the reproductive nature of this situation; Stores stock shit books, so people don't read, so store stock shit books, etc etc ad nauseum. Bit sad really.
The third reason, and the actual point of this post is this: Page size. Due to the Kindle's ability to alter font size and therefore page length, your rate of page turns can go up or down. When I'm reading I like to feel like I'm accomplishing something, turning pages is good for me, it keeps me interested and that millisecond it takes to turn the page, combined with the actual function of pressing a button really helps me to stay focused. I have some symptoms that seem a lot like ADD, except since I'm smart and I did well in school no one will ever believe me when I say it, but the fact is I have a really high level of distractability. It's not a short attention span, it's an overactive one. Big difference. So the ability to do something slightly different while reading really helps to stay engaged with the story and in the end read for longer, which is great because I used to love the idea and result of reading (the stories are 100 times better than anything TV or film will ever produce), but hate the act of reading because I just couldn't stay focused for long enough.
It's amazing what a little bit of technology can do. Amazon and the Kindle have simultaneously destroyed books for future generations, and made them entirely more interesting to me. Since I've lost my altruism due to some personal events over the last decade or so, I'm glad to say I'm having fun and the world can go fuck itself.
There seems to be an inordinate amount of profanity in this post, I guess that means I'm passionate about it. I'm not a robot! Who knew? Stay tuned.
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