On E-readers

I've had many a reddit argument about the various pros and cons of e-readers, but since they generally deteriorate into pointless insult flinging, and also since arguing with basement dwelling neck-beards is not a super productive use of my time, I thought I'd write about it here instead.

I'd like to start off by saying - if you don't like e-readers that's fine. If you have no desire to own one I'm not going to tell you you're wrong or stupid or force you to get one or anything. I fully understand that e-readers versus paper books is a matter of personal taste.  My issue is this - if you don't like e-readers, no problem, but don't be a dick about it (similarly if you think e-readers are better, don't be a dick about that either). There are a few recurring themes in this argument that I want to talk about:

The either/or argument
I don't understand why this is apparently such a difficult concept to understand - you can use both books and e-readers. Anti-kindlers always seem to say "I could never get a kindle, I like books too much!" - these are not mutually exclusive things. When you buy an e-reader the world doesn't revoke your book reading license, you aren't going to get kicked out of bookshops or libraries. Personally, I tend to buy things on my kindle when I'm not sure if I'll like them or not, then once I've read them I might choose to buy a physical copy, this actually means that I read a lot more than I did before.

Books are "better"
If your hobby is book collecting (a compulsion I fully understand and do engage in), then yes, books are better. However, if your hobby is reading, then the medium is irrelevant. The actual story has the same value no matter how it got into your brain and to suggest otherwise is clearly ridiculous. The people who are proponents of this particular argument tend to be misguided snobs. In my opinion if you are a lover of reading, then you should be glad to have people share your hobby, no matter how they do it. Regardless of whether or not you prefer e-readers or physical books, if you look down on something that makes books accessible to a wider range of people (e.g. larger prints for people with bad eyesight) and encourages people to read more, then you're kind of a dick.

E-readers are killing books
So this is just really not true. Amazon is killing books, not e-readers. People still buy vinyl even though iPods exist, and as much as I love my kindle, it's never going to kill my desire to collect books. The fact that this debate is still happening all over the internet and that there are all these people going "I hate e-readers because they are killing books" clearly shows that there are people out there who will continue to buy books. I mean, obviously I can't actually predict the future but I can't see actual books going anywhere for a long time.

So, that's my take on the whole thing, rant over!