John Battelle explains why he won’t read books he cares about on his Kindle.
And that’s when it hit me, in a very visceral and almost reactionary sense: I never, ever, EVER, want to read a book on this device, at least as the device is currently set up. Perhaps that’s a bit too sweeping: Put another way, I don’t ever want to read a book that I would ever want to share or keep – one that I’d want to put on my shelf in my library at home.
He makes a compelling point. Sharing can be solved rather easily, but the social aspect of books — seeing what someone is reading in public, and what one’s read in their library — can’t be.
Reading in public is especially interesting. When you see someone reading a book in public, the focus isn’t on the medium, but on what book it is. When reading on a device (whether it’s a Kindle, Nook, or iPhone), the focus is entirely on the device. That seems to be an important shift.