I clearly remember the first time I saw television. I stood at the window of a radio shop watching ghost-like figures emoting, singing, and dancing through a snow storm. The signal had sneaked across the border into Ontario from an American city. I knew the picture could look better because I had read about television and knew I would need to go to the USA or United Kingdom to see it better. Why, I wondered, does all this good stuff arrive somewhere else first. That happened close to 60 years ago. Now I know many good things arrive in Canada first, or, at least tied with whomever pretends to be first.
We have had numerous new devices or so-called advances appear since I stood with nose pressed against glass and watched those flickering images. Soon after, television arrived in Canada, quickly followed by colour TV and FM radio stations. Clever people began wiring our cities for cable television. People started buying tape and cassette recorders.
Universities and big businesses installed huge main-frame computers. Individuals started carrying pocket calculators and we thought we had arrived until personal computers became as popular as refrigerators.
Auto manufacturers began installing electronic ignition and fuel injection. (Wow. At last cars would start on winter mornings.) Soon we had VCRs, then CDs, and video disks. Then came the internet and web pages and email and Googling. Before we could turn around, our film cameras became obsolete and digital cameras took over. Whew, I’m out of breath.
Don’t expect this high-tech rush to stop any time soon. In fact, the Kindle has arrived. Well, it hasn’t got here yet, but you can buy it in most big U.S. cities. The question is: Do you want it? Perhaps I should first describe it.
Some people call it an electronic book. About the size of a typical paperback and weighing just under 300 grams, it can store up to 200 books in digital format. The manufacturer claims you can read the screen just as easily as a page in a regular book. Battery power enables you to take it anywhere. Imagine going on a vacation or business trip and taking your whole library with you, reading it on the airplane or bus or on the beach. Or you can read it in the bathtub or in bed with your spouse sleeping beside you.
That all sounds interesting, but I can tell you more. If you want a new book, you just order it from amazon.com by pushing buttons on the Kindle.
The new book will load immediately and the charge for the book (about $10) will appear just as quickly on your account. You don’t have to plug the device into a computer or telephone line to make it work. It uses the cell phone network so you can load it anywhere your cell phone will work. If newspapers rather than books are your thing, you can subscribe to a newspaper and have it downloaded daily. No more wet newspapers because the paper boy can’t hit the front porch.
Some wags have already predicted the end of the publishing industry as we know it.
I suppose it could happen. The music industry has changed drastically with music distributors going out of business because so many people download their music or order CDs on line. On the other hand, new technologies don’t always eliminate their predecessors. Television didn’t end radio; neither did computers lead to paperless offices.
Will I buy a Kindle someday? Not until it gets dirt cheap and feels, looks, and smells like a real book.