and i love buying old cookbooks, novels, biographies, travel books in the second hand shop or antiquariat and finding names and dedications in the front - or - even better - notes and comments in the book.
cookbooks i love have comments, additions, ideas written next to the recipe and the cookbooks i look for in the antiquariat are the ones with lots of comments, added recipes and ideas.
i love imagining the persons who gave the books and the recipients, the occasions for which they were given - makes a book so much more valuable for me.
and if anyone has those old early editions of agatha christie paperbacks that are almost falling apart - i'm here - i love them - i collect them - i love reading them and finding the mistakes (like the obvious when the heroine started out the story with blond hair and blue eyes and suddenly turned into a brunette, or when the name changed halfway through the story). in the new editions these have all been corrected - not nearly as much fun to read

Yes Lois you've put it in a nutshell. I like the idea of new technology but I still want my copy of The Quilt Life in paper form so that I can sit comfortably in my armchair and read it rather on my PC even if I have to pay $20 for international shipping.

loise98 wrote:
Amen, Lois!

I think the jist of the matter is that we want it both ways. I want to embrace and reach out for today and the future, but unwilling to give up the things that gave me comfort and enjoyment in the past. That's me. Lois

I have had an eReader for a few years now and I really like it too. It is great for traveling because of baggage allowances nowadays I don't like to carry lots of books. I, like Nancy, love the fact that you can download a book immediately. I recently had trouble ordering books online (they just didn't get delivered) so I cancelled that order and got some for my eBook instead. I also use it if I am reading late at night so that I don't disturb DH. And because it came with 100 classic novels I have even had the opportunity to read books that I otherwise might not have bothered with. I still buy hard copy books and I don't see that changing for a while yet. Although, I think that the bookstores are beginning to suffer now that so many people have tablets for reading. However, although you can get a brief synopsis of a book online you can't beat standing in a bookshop holding a book in your hands and reading the first few lines to decide whether you will buy it or not.

I'm also a book lover, but I have to admit that when my mom got me a Kindle for Christmas a year ago, my opinions really changed. I absolutely LOVE my Kindle!! I didn't want one before it was given to me because I'm so in love with books. But the Kindle allows me to read even more that I used to. I'm very particular about taking care of books so with a book I'm often holding it in an awkward position so I don't hurt the spine, but I can hold the Kindle in any posiiton without any damage. I also have trouble with insomnia and find that reading in the middle of the night sometimes helps, but turning off the light when done would wake me up again. So I started using a headlamp to read in the middle of the night, but that was a bit uncomfortable and could be difficult getting the light in the right place. My Kindle has a case with a built-in light which is easy to use and points in just the right direction -- problem solved!! And with the Kindle, when I hear about an interesting book on TV or something, I can immediately get it and start reading without leaving the house. And I can adjust the font size in the Kindle for reading when I don't have my reading glasses handy. All of my quilting books (and I have a larger library than my local guild and it continues to grow) are the printed versions because I like to leaf through them and I don't see that changing any time soon. But I still adore my Kindle and it is my favorite toy next to my sewing machine! It might even beat out my sewing machine since reading has been a love of mine since before I can remember, but sewing came into my life much later.

Nancy

I enjoyed the previous comments from Lois, Rita, Rosemary, and Lotti about books and our rapidly changing audio/visual communications technology. I, too, have shelves of books and racks of CD's that I wouldn't trade for the world. Having a book to hold in my hands to read (or look at the beautiful photos for inspiration) late at night when it's quiet is so peaceful for me. And listening to my CD's (some of which the music has been ripped to my iPod) while I'm sewing on a binding, etc. is both relaxing and educational. Obviously, we cannot own every book or CD that we like...so that's where I fill in with my local public library. Someday, books, CDs, and iPods will be things of the past, but for now I enjoy using them because they are my "oldish" friends.

i've got shelves & shelves of books and drawers & drawers of cd's...
many of the books i've also purchased or downloaded the spoken version. it's difficult to read and sew at the same time - but with the book in my ear - the hands are free - especially practical on long air travel - waiting in line - waiting to board - waiting on board - waiting to land - waiting to transfer - etc. etc. then when i get home, i lie grab the hard copy lie down on my bed and look for the right spot and continue reading...
all my cd's have been ripped, so it's now all on my pc and iPhone - but the CD is still here if my pc crashes
once in a while i rip cd's from the library - and when they sell the original cd afte a year or so - i generally buy it and put it in my cd-drawer... wierd - but good for my conscience.
i don't like to download from iTunes anymore - have had too many things that i "lost" because it wouldn't let me use them anymore when i changed my iTunes account - or got a new PC
trouble is - my pc is constantly running out of memory space because i just can't delete this or that...

Rosemary, I am with you on the books too! Haven't gotten an e-reader yet. I sure do love my computer, my i-phone, and so wish I could afford an i-pad. It's our world and I want to live in it. At the same time, I want to remember how to be still, quiet and unpluged. On my list along side of all those electronic gadgets is a treadle sewing machine. I have a spot for it in my quilting room.

loise98 wrote: For myself it is books - while I love the fact that the internet has made it possible to view copies of old and ancient books which have been put on the net, I frequently say to myself, shall I print that one off and turn it into a real book? and in a few cases I already have, I assembled and glued 4 and made a stitched book block of another (needs to be bound yet). The reason - I find it so much easier to find what I want in a book than on a pdf. (and it doesn't need batteries )

That said I am about to go all geeky and start playing with my new tablet - once the battery is charged

"Gone are the days of coming home with a new 'record' putting it on and sitting down with a cup of tea to listen to the music while reading the sleeve notes. " Sadly, that is exactly what I want to do. Unless I've gotten something I can see, touch & feel - not just hear - I don't feel as if I really have it. I guess those of us who love those things have "shot ourselves in the foot" by accepting gifts of pirated music. Perhaps one of the reasons I am a quilter there is no way the end product of that can be digitized and duplicated. It will always be something I can touch and feel and it will keep me warm regardles of mistakes or artistic blunders. Maybe that's why you are a quilter too. Anyway I love the music and will have to learn to do without the "icing on the cake so to speak." Life is changing so fast these days and I imagine no where is that speed and change more evident than in the lives of musicans. We can't do without their music. That's for sure. Maybe if we slow down and quilt long enough we'll know what to do. Lois

Well Lois, between the jigs and the reels you should do okay. The Kerry polkas might be a bit too skittish but the Donegal Mazurkas would be good for free-form feathers! As for our music, well sadly the industry is almost dead (not your fault I hasten to add) but if you really want to get some of our music then the best website is taramusic.com otherwise it's got to be on iTunes. Getting a physical copy of a CD seems to be almost impossible now. Gone are the days of coming home with a new 'record' putting it on and sitting down with a cup of tea to listen to the music while reading the sleeve notes.

Rita, I am with the rest of them having trouble connecting the dots. Perhaps that means we quilters just don't get outside our boxes often enough. It's so nice of you, Rita, to bring us into contact with a bit of the world outside quilting. I have been wanting to get some of your CD's but on Amazon.com they are out of stock. I guess I have to step a bit further outside my box into the 21st century and start downloading my music. A few years ago my husband went on a hiking tour through part of Ireland and his guides each gave him a CD of a collection of their own favorite pieces of Irish music - Illegal copies I am sure. Sorry! He forgot about them until we found them just last week. We've been listening to both of them over and over again. I love the irish music. Now I have to make it up to all those Irish musicans whoever they may be and actually buy some of their work legit. I think that Irish music would do a whole lot to help improve my FMQ skills. Lois

Thanks Pam - of course that photo was probably taken a long time ago - you should see me now