Friday, December 15, 2017

Digital Holdout

I refuse to review comic books, magazines or books in PDF or electronic versions.

While it is true that most reading material is transitioning over to digital (at least as far as review copies go), I refuse to review them.

I want a book or publication that I can hold in my hands, turn the pages and refer back to it instead of flipping through computer or reader screens.

Call me old-fashioned.  I wear the label proudly.  Asking me to review an electronic book is like asking a food critic to tell how food tastes from a photograph.

Often when I review books I talk not only about the story or context, but the book itself:  the paper, the binding, special inserts, etc.

Digital context is here to stay, which is good in some instances such as documents, textbooks, forms etc., but bad when it comes to reading material. At least in my opinion.

There is nothing like holding a book, feeling the texture of paper against your skin, smelling the ink and musty old paper and binding and putting it on a shelf to be retrieved and enjoyed for years to come.

New is not necessarily better.  Sometimes the old ways are the best ways.