A New Year--A New Idea

Perhaps this blog is premature. Maybe it needs to sit and permeate a bit longer. On the other hand I have been thinking about this concept since the late 1960s. Thinking.... And I have written several little articles about it but most did not like what I had said. The concept? Reading books on an eReader device--like a Kindle from Amazon

Before we get into this discussion let me remind you of some variables that you need to know. First, I am dyslexic and have some difficulty some days reading off ink and paper. No, I don't know why. Words at either end of the sentence tend to "float" and on my worst day (which I haven't had for some time now), the whole paragraph wants to move around. I also miss words or "see" different words. In recent years I believe my reading habits to be improved. Does age mitigate dyslexia--I don't know.

Secondly, I like technology. Unabashed enjoyment of the new electronic world--although I don't know how to use much of it. But it is fascinating. But color me biased in this area. When I bought my first MacPlus computer, the little black on gray screen with a calc, data base, and word processing on it and when I booted it up and saw what it could do, I cried. I remember moving away from the coffee table where my wife and I had set it up so my tears would not hit the keyboard. Weird, eh? The reason for my emotional outburst was that the screen was so EASY to read. Nothing moved and it was easy to read--did I say that already. LIfe suddenly got much easier--here I was a college professor in a profession that had to publish or perish. Writing amazingly got easier with that MacPlus. It was seeing what I wrote that became important. At that time I thought why can't all books be put on my computer? Hence, my articles about how it was now time to print all materials to the computer. I'm sure you know the reaction of most librarians. "What do you mean get rid of books!" And, it wasn't just librarians--most people wanted to have a book. My articles went nowhere. In fact there was so much negativity to my thoughts that I abandoned the idea--but I kept it in the back of my mind. I did watch children and young adults with dyslexia read better and easier on a computer screen but I really didn't have research enough to say anything.

Let me get to the major point of this blog. I got a Kindle for Christmas! I've wanted one for some time. I got the Kindle 2 and I have been more then pleased. Actually I am ecstatic. I have read several books this week (psssst, THIS WEEK) among them Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin and first published in 1813. I didn't know the latter. And she didn't have a computer to write it on--my oh my. I enjoyed it immensely. Now I plan to read Jerome Jerome's "Three Men In A Boat--Not To Say Nothing of The Dog." I have read this book a number of times, one of my favorite. I want to see if reading it on the Kindle will change my reaction.

Holding it is easy. It is light weight and the black on gray screen is as easy to read as anything I have--including the old MacPlus. It does need light so reading under the covers as I did as a child will still require a flashlight. But it is easy reading. And you can change the size of the font. You want bigger words.....or smaller words. Just change them to what you want. Do you want less words in a sentence line? You can do that as well. Now here is a perfectly good research project for a graduate student. Find out what do children prefer in the number of words per line--I never thought much about that.

But there are those, many my close friends who say they want to feel the book. HA! I have the answer....a good one. I bought a leather cover for my Kindle. It is a beautiful cover and it changes how the Kindle feels when reading it. And you can turn back the cover and have this soft felt feel to your Kindle. Pretty cool. I wanted the cover for protection but I really enjoy how it feels when I hold it to read. So for those who want the feel of a book, buy a cover.

Downloading books to the Kindle is a piece of cake. You find the book that you want and then just order it. Many books are free but New York Times book list books and ones like those normally cost $9.99. Since I've had this device only about a week and a half, I have not explored too far--I've been reading! But I did download the "Three Men in a Boat" from the Gutenberg project, a program to digitalize all books that are past the copyright dates. They are all free but my survey has been limited to just a few places so far.

At the moment, I believe that the Kindle could be an amazing device for schools. Textbooks, reading books, library books would be much, much cheaper for schools to supply to their students. But as I did in the seventies, I can see many applications in everyday life for a Kindle. Let me take it to my boat and look up maintenance projects where I can hold the Kindle and look at the project in hand. However, my main thoughts are to go to the boat, get comfortable and read. A quiet place to enjoy my reading.

I'll have more to say about the Kindle as I become more familiar with it. I'm still just a beginner. But it is exciting. And to the lady teacher in Harrison, New York who understood I did not fathom how to read using the phonics method, taught me another way to read, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You must have been an amazing teacher. And to those who designed and invented the Kindle, you also have my gratitude. Everlasting.

Have you thanked a teacher lately?

The Demise of the Library--Kindle anyone?

With that title I can hear the arguments, the shaking of fists, the unhappiness of those who love books......as much as I love books. I have a bookshelf with a broken shelf because I put too many books on it. So why is this damn fool making such a pronouncement?

It all started with my first understanding of Dyslexia. Some suggest that about five percent have dyslexia, a learning disability that affects primarily reading and spelling and math. Looking at numbers and letters. And it has nothing to do with intelligence. It does appear to be gene related meaning it could run in a family line. I have dyslexia. Didn't know I had it until I went to a workshop on it when I was first teaching and took the test. Further testing appears to support the fact that I do have dyslexia.

So it probably would not be a surprise that some of my research at the university was on how students cope with dyslexia. Since it is primarily a perception problem, I surveyed college students and asked how they read. Some read better with less light, some read better using a gray or blue transparency over the page of the book. Some literally had someone else read the book to them. Coping skills for the college student with dyslexia.

One day my wife and I bought home a Apple Macintosh plus computer--the little one with a gray screen. I notice right away that I could read better with it then I could with books and paper. So I tried it on several of my students. All could read more successful on the screen. One girl did her math and the numbers didn't move about. She was elated. She could read rows of numbers correctly on the Mac Plus. I was on to something.

So, hold that thought. Okay? Now for my second point. There are those who will say that they like holding a book. It feels good. I agree somewhat. There are even those who say that "you will have to pry the book out of these cold hands...." Some say "I like reading in bed." And among my friends there are several who say they like to curl up with the cat on their lap and read a good book. I have read many books in my lifetime. But holding them is not my cup of tea. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is eight hundred and seventy pages. Oh come now, Blackwell, you're picking certain books to stack the statistics. You right, you right. It is the biggest of the series. I had to read it at the dining room table. I got tired holding it. Have you read the young adult book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Sellznick (Caldecott Award book). Five hundred and thirty three pages. Great kids book. Let me stack the deck one more time. One of my favorite books (although I have been know to fall asleep reading it) is Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. Seven hundred fifty five pages NOT counting about a hundred pages of notes. These are heavy books, not intellectually, but physically. Read one of these in bed and my arms would quit in five minutes.

So years ago I wanted a screen placed over my bed where I could read digitized books. And I envisioned a camera watching my eyes and when they closed for sleep, it would mark where I had left off and turn the screen off. I thought my idea was cool. A librarian friend of mine thought I was crazy. It is also not surprising that I like paperbacks. Cheaper and lighter.

But in the last year or so, something has come on the market that has taken my fancy.....and imagination. The Kindle. It is 8 inches by 5 and a half inches and less then a half inch thick. it weighs about ten ounces. Good lord, Doris Goodwin's notes alone weight more then that. And this device hold 1500 books. No, I'm not kidding. Fifteen Hundred! It is from Amazon.

I can't wait until I get my hands on a Kindle. Except, that Apple is probably coming out with their version called for the moment, a Tablet. And I'm a Mac user.

But my point is that it is easier to hold one of these reading devices (in bed or elsewhere) then to hold the real object, the book. I watch kids going to school in the morning and their backpacks are full. Homework? Probably. Books? Youbetcher. And do you know how much it cost a school district to buy books? Lots and lots. I haven't check on school budgets lately but I'll bet it is one of the bigger items after teacher salaries, school buses, and building maintenance.

Here is another point. Checking out a book from a library includes driving to the facility, finding parking, finding change to feed the meter, then going in and finding the book. It is not my finest hour by any means. I want the Kindle, look up the book on the New York Times reading list and hit the button. I get it in sixty seconds for about ten dollars. If and when the Apple device shows up on the market I suspect the price of a book may go down a bit.

I once had a conversation with the noted author Mitchell Smith. He said he would prefer getting a penny or two every time someone read his book rather then being paid for it in a lump sum by the publisher. A more steady flow of income and less taxes to pay. I think he would applaud the Kindle and device like it.

However, I do envision a time when all you need to do is decide on what book you need or want. Perhaps even sections of books. Stanford University's the Digital Michelangelo Project is digitizing most books which are not copyrighted. Eventually they will have digitized most of the great books of the world for anyone to use. Just download it.

What really prompted me to follow down this primrose path is a book written several years ago by Bill Gates. Yes, the Gates of Microsoft fame. Quite frankly it was one of the best books that I read. But I didn't read the book! Inside the book was a CD and when you placed it in computer (Window's version) you got the book and then some. First the book was well written. Gates is very perceptive and he saw the future better then most of us. But he also had resources to back up his thinking of which when you read the CD version of his book, those resources were highlighted and if you clicked your mouse on them, they would take you into information that was not available in the hard bound version of the book. It was one of the most enjoyable, intellectual and wondrous moments in my reading career. And remember, I'm a dyslexic. It was easier to read on screen then to read the pages of his book.

I could go into costs of book production, book storage (read libraries), book damage, book life (how long does a book last for a library) and book availability (Is it on the shelf?). I've taught Library Science (part time at the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington) and at my own university. But I really think the golden age of libraries is starting to crumble. It may take two to three hundred years and then again it may happen sooner. I do not know but I think the digital age of books has arrived. I see children of all ages reading books from their book reader and enjoying it more. That's what we want don't we? I want a Kindle.

Do you read a lot? Do you like books? Be sure to thank a teacher for helping you learn to read. And for providing you with books, thank a librarian.