Smelling the pages of musty old books is largely becoming a thing of the past as more and more students use technology to find their favorite books and their least favorite textbooks.
After a lot of subtle hinting to my boyfriend, he got me a Kindle as a present. Nothing fancy, just a standard one that will hold enough books for me to stay happy for quite awhile. I immediately filled it with all the cheapest books I could find, and one not so cheap one, a textbook.
I wanted to see how I would like using a Kindle to hold a textbook, and as it turns out it was pretty handy. I could look up words with its built-in dictionary and it was easy to use with the fancy-dancy touch screen.
I wish I had been able to find more versions of my textbooks available for use on the Kindle. It would make my life so much easier. I have 11 textbooks this semester for six classes and I can’t fit all of them in my backpack at once let alone with my notebooks.
I suppose here is where I whine about my bad back, huh? I don’t really have one, but thanks to the overload in books this semester I have had to visit a chiropractor to realign the muscles in my back.
Why, in this age of technology, are we carrying around a library when we could carry one book instead of dozens? It would save me time, energy, and if I am lucky, a little money.
Kindles, Nooks and iPads do cost a lot, but they are about the same price as a textbook anyway. If we are going to spend a couple hundred dollars on a book we are going to look at for only 15 weeks, why not spend the same amount on a device we can use for several years?
Not to mention the more expensive versions can do much more than hold books, although I admit it may provide us with unwanted distractions, I’m looking at you, Internet!
Buying a Kindle is worth the money, but not unless more textbooks become available in this version. I don’t see why more publishers are not offering this version of textbooks. Another version of the book means they are opening up an entire new market for students.
On the downside, this means selling back books will no longer be available, but I know I don’t get a lot of money when I sell back my books. Besides, professors update books frequently so the bookstore may not take them back anyway.
Professors are always saying our generation is plugged in, so let’s plug in even more for the sake of our own education and the welfare of spines everywhere.