I Absolutely Hated E-books
When I was a student, I loved paper books.
My friends felt the same way.
We didn't have any money.
But we wanted to read a lot of books.
So, we were constantly lending and borrowing books from each other.
From regular novels to obscure, niche books, we would stuff them into paper bags, carry them by bicycle, and trade them.
"This was interesting."
"Lend me this next."
"Are you done reading that?"
We would repeat things like that endlessly.
One day, that friend said,
"Apparently, there's this thing called e-books."
They said you read books on a screen.
We looked at each other.
"Eww! No way!"
"Books have to be paper!!"
As I said that, I stroked the cover of my book.
I thought that a "book" included everything—the smell of the paper, the weight, the feeling of turning the pages.
And then, once again, I put a large number of books into paper bags and held a book exchange.
Time passed.
I think it was about fifteen years later.
I borrowed a book from the library.
I had only looked at the title when I borrowed it, but on the way home, I happened to look at the cover and stopped in my tracks.
The author's name was that friend of mine.
We hadn't been in touch for a long time.
That made it all the more surprising.
Moreover, in the afterword or somewhere like that,
"I felt the potential of e-books from early on"
or something to that effect was written.
I couldn't help but laugh.
After all that,
"I hate it unless it's paper!!"
And this was someone who used to say that.
A few days later, an ad for that person's e-book version appeared in a large format on my computer.
Boom!
Times change, and people change too.
And as for me, the one saying such things, I have now become quite the e-book fan myself.
I have many people around me who publish books.
Thankfully, the number of signed complimentary copies I receive has also increased.
But I sometimes even get rid of physical books and buy the e-book versions instead.
Since they will still get the royalties, I hope they will forgive me.
By the way, I also bought my own book on Kindle.
Even though there was no author discount for the digital version.
It was more important to me that my bookshelves didn't get full.
If our past selves saw us now, they would be quite surprised.
#Essay #DailyEssay #Reading #Ebooks #Funny #SueRecords
Click here for the story about me wanting to digitize everything and the person who just wouldn't be convinced.
"The Attic Archive and Days of Clutter"
Click here for the story about my somewhat reckless student life back then.
"I Took Credits Assuming I'd Collapse, and Ended Up Skipping a Grade"
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