‘Let’s get excited about ... e-readers’

Can’t do it. E-book readers appear to transform the joy of holding a beloved dog-eared novel into the mundanity of reviewing a Word doc. (To help combat this, CaféScribe is sending out scratch ‘n’ sniff stickers with its ebook orders to recreate the musty smell of text books on your laptop.) Yet, I must be wrong as they are becoming increasingly popular on the Sutton to Farringdon train – my barometer of all modern trends.

To be fair, I’ve only used an e-reader once. For two minutes in Waterstone’s. And a woman stood next to me smelling of cough syrup, so I hastily pottered off. But in that two minutes, there was no instant, iPod-like bond. Why do I want to carry 100s of books about? I tend to read one book at a time – it’s not like I’m going to put the pages on shuffle (though, actually, that does sound like it could be fun). And what if it runs out of juice mid-journey? – I already have too many things to recharge in my life. And what happens if I drop it in the bath?

If you’ve spent more than two minutes with one – perhaps you’re the man who sat opposite me on the train this morning – let me know what I’m missing out on.

Please note: These are purely the ravings of one man and in no way represent the views of Collective who would be very happy to work with any e-reader manufacturers in the future.