Am I Cheating on My First Love?

I confess I have an iPad and I love it! It is the coolest gizmo I have ever seen. It is so easy to use even a technophobe like me figured it out quickly. I can download books easily from iTunes. I can read them anywhere I go and the book is always there. I can be reading multiple books at one time (as I often do) without having to remember if I packed it or where I put it. If I don't have my reading glasses handy I can just adjust the size of the text, no problem.

I still stand by my first love of real, printed books -- always! Now I just have more ways to enjoy them. In my mind I used to think that if I went digital I would be cheating on my Lov-A (as Carrie Bradshaw would say). It's like when you love you have more love to share. I love books and this way I can love more often and more easily. Now I have real books and I have digital books. I can have both and not feel like I am cheating on my boyfriend, named Book.

My iPad was a gift from a business partner and now I completely "get it." When I first saw his iPad I walked around muttering for days that I had iPad envy. Just what it can do with pictures is amazing. It imported the last twelve months of my iPhoto almost immediately. I could easily organize and scan through them so quickly it blew me away. I was able to view them in all of their megapixel glory on the full screen.

The features are wonderful. I can search anything, go to my webpages and keep up with social networking easily. I can download movies and watch them on a long flight without having to worry about the battery running out like on my laptop.

The only thing I can't do is work in a Word document. My laptop is still a working instrument for me to write my books and blogs, as it is too heavy to carry around just for the purposes of reading a book. I also wish it had a webcam so I could do Skype chats.

Now when I travel I am surrounded by cords. Between my phone, computer, laptop, camera, iPod and iPad, I have to double check my packing list to make sure I have every charger in my wired world. I have heard there is a master charger on the market somewhere, or was that just a dream I had?

I am still 100% certain that going digital will not make the printed book extinct. That was the prediction for the movie theaters when cable television made its way into our homes. I still believe there is a place in the world for the printed book. At least in my world (and my heart) there will always be a special place for my first love.

Arielle Ford has launched the careers of many NY Times bestselling authors including Deepak Chopra, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Neale Donald Walsch & Debbie Ford. She is a former book publicist, literary agent and the author of seven books. To learn how to get started writing a book please visit: www.HowToWriteMyBook.com

 

Comments

[RobinSeattle]

07:45 PM on 08/30/2010

Well, times change and so do informatio­n delivery systems. The two concerns I have about E-readers is the need for power in order to use them and whether or not they are harder on the eyes than regular books.

On the other hand, you get to carry a heck of a lot more informatio­n with you than you could if you are just stuck with books and the storage is a lot easier. So while I prefer actual books, whatever works for you.

[Rivster]

04:23 AM on 08/30/2010

How reassuring to know that I am not alone in my conflicted soul! The physicalit­y of the book is so powerful. Yet, how much more enhanced the act of reading can be with an iPad. I am committed to waiting until the next generation is released in 1st quarter of 2011. I believe self-contr­ol will be good for me ;)

[Carl Black]

08:49 AM on 08/28/2010

Interestin­g that you say you "can't" work in a Word document. Are you saying that Pages does not work properly?

[Connie Bennett]

07:51 AM on 08/28/2010

Arielle, what a clever way to discuss your iPad love affair! And that headline, "Am I Cheating on My First Love?" is utterly brilliant! You're such a talented writer.

I can understand your enthusiasm­. A friend of mine showed me his iPad, and I was wowed, too. How cool to be able to read multiple books, keep up with social networking and watch movies on a long flight.

I don't have an iPad yet, but I have a fun plan in place to get one. You see, my goal is to entice and motivate myself to finish my next book, "Beyond Sugar Shock," ahead of schedule so I can get an iPad.

When I'm done writing my book before my deadline, then I can get an iPad. But I won't let myself get one before then. You see, like many parents tempt their kids with candies -- not something I recommend -- I plan to "treat" myself with an iPad for work well done. In the meantime, I'll just have iPad envy!

[Lev Raphael]

06:08 PM on 08/25/2010

I am so with you! I have loved borrowing, buying, reading, stacking, rearrangin­g books since grade school, but I loved the iPad as soon as friends showed its features to me. Far more than the other book readers I've seen, it reproduces the feel of reading (and as you say, it's gawjus). With the basic Apple cover, it's like reading my favorite kind of book, a hardback. Add to that everything else it can do, and I was sold and haven't regretted the purchase. Like you, I do not believe printed books will disappear, but it's wonderful to have choices like: "Do I really want to squeeze a 20th Anita Brookner book onto that shelf, or can I just download it?"