I recently received a gift. A book…an actual paper book! Something which in the fast paced world of business and technology, feels like it’s becoming rarer. The book itself, Sophie Kinsella’s “Mini Shopaholic”, seems like a lighthearted laugh. So when I received it, I was intrigued and happy. Intrigued about the content of the book as it’s not my usual arena to read about, and happy, because I realized it’s been a long time since I actually received a book as gift.
DVDs, MP3 players (or is it MP4 now!), Galaxy tablets, iPad2…These are the fun technology tools that are generally more sought after to learn, enjoy, play and …heck read a book on! With all this going on, you practically stick out like a sore thumb on the train while you stand there reading your paper back waiting for the 5 more stops till your destination. All the while everyone surrounding you is, well, ‘plugged into the Matrix’ and ‘inconspicuously’ glancing at you and your book as if they were Agent Smith.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve caught myself on a fairly regular basis morphing into Agent Smith. Standing there with my headphones in, listening to music which I’m quite sure at least 2 people standing near me have the ability to listen to and hopefully enjoy, while trying to avenge the Angry Birds or fiddling with another app! Yes, I am that person as well. I do love my Android! It’s an incredible learning multi-tasking tool. And when I don’t want to carry a large heavy book around ...eBooks is my knight in shining armor. However, this has also made me appreciate the feel and comfort of a paper back. Not just to have when you don’t feel like being plugged in while on the train, but for other things, such as cooking.
Yes, HD pics on a great quality screen are awesome, you can almost smell the dishes in the pic!, But when you’re in the kitchen trying out a new recipe, getting a bit of hot pasta sauce on that lovely screen is not going make things more tasty. With a good old cookbook you can wipe the sauce right off and in my opinion, it actually adds charm to the book. It gives the feeling of your grandmother’s recipe book which was handed down to you, providing that sense of nostalgia. And to be honest, if Julia Child was around today, I couldn’t imagine her standing in the kitchen with her iPad or what have you, following a recipe!
