Tolkien on the Kindle

[Gwathagor]

I feel like civilization has probably had this conversation several times. Like when we switched over from the oral tradition to the scroll or the clay tablet, and later on to the leather codex. And think of the backlash there must have been against the printing press - mass-produced books for everybody? But books are supposed to be works of art!

There is no wrong or right textual medium. Each one is different and each one involves its own particular advantages and disadvantages. Books are a more geographical, tactile, kinesthetic experience. You learn in a different way than when you read an etext, because you can feel the book and each piece of information gets tied to a specific location. The etext is more abstract, but it's also more fluid. It allows for greater connectivity with other texts and information, via not only your particular device, but through the internet.

It will change the way we read and, even more, the way we think. But books won't ever completely die out because they have substance and texture and smell, which is something the internet will never be able to replicate. People need that physical connection to the world.