The struggle between print books vs. e-books is something that I have been following for a while because I am not excited about the attention e-books are receiving. I love holding the actual print book in my hand vs. looking at it on my iPad. I love technology and am always the first to fall in love with new technological advancements, but books are something I believe should not be messed with. Now days anyone can put an e-book online with Amazon, Smashwords, and similar sites, even those people who are not meant to be writers. In my opinion e-books have created a place for amateur writers to showcase their work. This is not necessarily a bad thing for it gives new writers the ability to gain some credibility and eventually get their books professionally published.
However, there are those people who should not be writers and are putting poorly crafted books online for everyone to read. What happens when kids (who do have kindles and iPhones now) get these e-books to read and their sense of proper grammar and the English language is skewed thanks to these unprofessional writers. When I was younger my love for reading is what made me a better writer because I was able to take what I had absorbed from my books and put it into my own writing. When you are constantly reading incorrect material it could end up affecting other parts of your life.
My worry is that print books may become obsolete and then I won’t have a choice anymore of how I read. Looking online there are lots of people who seem to believe that print books are not going to die out (yet).
“Physical books are not obsolete: The book industry is not the music industry, in part because ‘the book is an exceptionally good piece of technology—easy to read, portable, durable, and inexpensive.’ And, though ebook sales are growing, they’re not growing at a rate that suggests that they’re going to completely take over physical books.”
http://conversationalreading.com/the-book-it-is-not-dying-yet/
I am glad that there are other people who believe that the printed word is not going to die out. As far as printed books go I like paperback better because it is easier to hold in my hands and I don’t have to worry about the book jacket falling off. As long as I get to hold the book in my hands though I am happy.
In this same article I found a particular passage that I think relates to the book we are reading A Better Pencil.
“Part of our heritage as a civilization are all these books and documents preserved in museums and quasi-shrines all around the world—it is no exaggeration at all to say that pieces of printed matter like the United States Constitution or the original folios of Shakespeare’s plays have taken on spiritual significance.”
http://conversationalreading.com/the-book-it-is-not-dying-yet/
In the first chapter of A Better Pencil it talks about how people did not use to trust the written word and how now it is very important to our society with things like the Declaration of Independence that documents our nation’s history. The written word can help to remind us of our history and help us look towards our future. I definitely do not want to see printed books die out any time soon.
My Comments:
http://ktuftsprofessional.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/theme-vs-mechanism/comment-page-1/#comment-7
Language, Texts, and Technology 375 
I agree with many of your points, especially with how you prefer print books over e-books. However, I hadn’t even thought about how access to the internet and free publishing has produced e-books with terrible grammar and are, as you say, “poorly-crafted”. I also agree with how you think that the print book is not dying just yet (and I too, worry about that inevitability). For me, using traditional paper books has a certain romance to it, and I love being able to hold the physical book while I read it.
I definitely agree that I do not want to see print books disappear. I really like being able to hold the book in my hand. When I really love a book, the cover and binding begin to wear and the book just looks loved. However, when I get a hard cover book, that book is special and really we’ll taken care of by me. I like owning hard covers of my favorite books because they are really special to me. I really love what Barnes and Nobel has been doing with classic books. They have re-released classic books with beautiful hard covers. The books look like old classic books. The covers are well done, they have ribbon book marks, and are overall just really cool looking books. Every time I see them I wish I had money to buy them all. The stories are great but they also just look great on a bookshelf. You can’t do that with an e-book.
Lisa,
Nice job bringing in some outside source material! I happen to agree with the quote about printed books not yet being obsolete. I don’t think you have to worry about a total e-book monopoly, because the technology is still valid. Also, thinking about past media that have been “improved” upon, it seems to me that they are usually repurposed rather than being replaced and erased. For example, TV replaces live theatre, but theatre still exists. It has different cultural meaning, and the content doesn’t overlap much with television, but the medium still exists for us to enjoy. Maybe someday, you will find yourself in a similar situation with books. You will still be able to read physical books, but you may have to use both media to get all the content you want.
I agree with the fact that you like physical copies of books rather than ebooks because for me it helps better comprehend what I am reading. When you stated “My worry is that print books may become obsolete and then I won’t have a choice anymore of how I read.” This sentence made think, I hadn’t even thought about not being able to choose how I read in the future. Thinking of having to only read from computers or kindles in the future makes me not excited to read anything because I find it more of a chore. I don’t own a kindle and don’t read enough to buy one so all my readings would be on my computer. This also means that I wouldn’t be able to read in comfortable positions like I would with a book because I would need to be using my computer and I can never sit comfortably on the computer.