To Kindle or Not To Kindle?

As a techno lover AND a book lover, it may be surprising to some of you that I do not own a Kindle/Nook/Sony EReader.

The only time I've really been tempted to have one is when I go on vacation. Case in point.... last year we went to the Caribbean on a 9 day cruise.  We flew out the day before.  Thus, I packed ten novels.   I had already spent $50 to check one suitcase and had to fight to get it under the weight limit (which meant Darren had to wear the same pants for a week so I could fit in all my shoes).  The result of this is that even though my carryon bag was much smaller than my suitcase, it weighed more (and is part of what is totally wrong with charging for checked bags but I digress).  I lugged that carryon from SLC to Denver, from Denver to Atlanta, from Atlanta to Miami from Miami to West Palm Beach, then all over the Gulf of Mexico.  Then had to do it all in reverse.

The result of this effort is that while I had enough books to read, I completely threw out my back.  I ended up spending over $200 in doctor visits and chiropractic care not to count the miserable trip I had riding home in our truck with tears rolling down my face chanting the name of Dr. Rose under my breath like a mantra.

But besides this, I really haven't cared for a Kindle. 
The MAIN reason is because I read too much and quite simply could not afford to purchase the number of  books I read per year.

But here (all courtesy of cracked.com) are a few  more reasons why electronic readers taking over the world is a BAD IDEA:

* YOU CAN'T HIDE A GUN IN A KINDLE.
Books are one of the few things left that you can carry around without people suspecting you've got something in them.
* YOU NEED PHYSICAL BOOKS FOR PHYSICAL TASKS
These important tasks include table stabilizing, spider killing, cat fight breaking up and makeshift camera stand making.
* BOOK BURNINGS WILL HAVE LESS VISUAL IMPACT
When a person becomes cemented into a position of power that rides on the suppression of human rights and universal freedoms, one of the important ways of demonstrating that all expression is ultimately under your control is with the unforgettable spectacle of a mass book burning. There is nothing like watching the last repositories of their culture, history and ideas being burned away to suck the spirit out of a repressed people. This symbolism is kind of lost when burning an e-reader.
* HOW WILL PEOPLE OPEN SECRET PASSAGEWAYS?
Seriously, if you can't pull a cleverly titled book out of a bookcase to get it to swing open, what else are you going to do? You have to put an artifact in a slot or push a really obvious wooden carving every time? Boy, that is going to get old fast.
* KINDLE KILLS CREATIVITY
If you have never itched to add an "improvement" to one of your public school textbooks while listening to a boring lesson, then you are clearly a conformist sheep. How are you supposed to continue the proud tradition of drawing mustaches and Satan horns on important historical figures if you don't have actual paper to write on?
* MOVIES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME
Probably one of the most relevant concerns about physical paper books disappearing to the point where the average person isn't familiar with them anymore is: how is this going to affect movies with spellbooks in them?  Will people stop using them in movies? Will they continue to use them in movies as archaic artifacts that the audience will increasingly struggle to understand?  "They said he was supposed to get a book, but why didn't he just download it back at the castle? Does the castle not get wireless?"

Read the entire article for much more and a great giggle.