Old or New?

There is a certain commercial playing on TV right now that I think is absolutely creative. Its the "Kindle" commercial. How cool is it to see before your eyes the many genre's of books available to you in an instant? But every time I think about one day purchasing a Kindle, I see my bookcase and wonder what it would look like. Bare, empty shelves or filled with knickknacks, rather than stories. I see the stacks and rows of books I currently have and begin to think how much I would miss them. The old books, some falling apart with pages so delicate they must be turned with care. Some well worn with dog ears, creased pages and pen markings testifying to the numerous times they have been read. And then there is the smell of a fresh new book, the soft crackling sound that a book spine makes when being opened for the first time and realized - I can't! I cannot trade my dear old and new friends for ANOTHER technological advancement. The Kindle is cool, yes, but friendly? No. I cannot drop tears on it when reading a sad part in a book - it might short out! I can't fold a page over to remember where I left off or dog ear a section I want to read again. Its not easy to snuggle into a blanket on a cold winter day with hot chocolate, and a rectangular pad. Oh no, you want that warm feeling of a page turning while you eagerly anticipate the next page in the book. Or when you are a kid and have a flashlight and a book under your covers, eagerly sneaking a few more pages before you fall asleep.

The Kindle is a neat "toy", but it is just that, a toy. Another gadget to remove me from days gone by. My books are my friends. They comfort me, encourage me, make me laugh, help me cry, scare me and uplift me. All with their words encased in the security of a beautifully illustrated cover just begging me to come see what new adventure awaits! So thank you, creator of the Kindle, for your fascinating invention, but I'll stick to the past. After all, books of some type or another have been around for thousands of years. I'll take my chances of not being on the cutting edge... because sometimes, you just don't wanna get cut.