Why Kindles are Like a Low Fat Lunch

I had just finished my shift and was looking for some quick lunch in the shopping centre. Walking past the grocery stalls, I spotted fresh strawberries. Having a pot of Greek-style yogurt in my bag, it would be a perfect match. What's more, the low calorie fruit allayed all my concerns about the healthy, but fatty Greek yogurt. Plus, strawberries remind me of my parent's garden in Slovakia.

All around me were people feeding on fast-food or overpriced sandwiches. Reading a paper newspaper did not help my image of the rebel against the establishment.

It got me thinking. We have sugar-free sweets, caffeine-free coffee, fat-free yogurt...why shouldn't we have bookless libraries. Although books should be cherished because they conserve the wisdom of the previous generation, they take up too much space in the modern lifestyle.

Maybe it is the devil of commercial culture, to have everything digital, but it is much more convenient to have the service at the library done from a desk computer. Less storage space will be reflected in lower costs.

Many book-lovers in the past have pondered which book to take on a desert island. Now, they can take them all. With tablets like the Kindle we have a collection of books we can take anywhere and turn into a computer when needed. You can write your own comments and share it on your blog, using Tumblr.

Kindle's are like the calorie counting whole-meal sandwiches available for the health conscious, busy people. However, in the same way that you can never replace a proper lunch, browsing through paper books is sometimes the only way to enjoy the pleasure of reading.

Erik Redli is a university graduate from Slovakia who is currently living in London. Read more of his posts here.

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