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I am one person who still enjoys having a book in my hands, even though you can read anything online these days. I am sorry to see that Borders is going out of business. Not only does it mean a loss of 10,700 American jobs but it also pulls us away from a lifelong pleasure...the simple act of turning the pages of a good book. Borders is the biggest bookseller to go out of business so far, but certainly not the only one. The small, privately owned bookstore is becoming a thing of the past too. I predict the next thing to go will be newspapers and I will really miss them. It's still a pleasurable experience for me to open up the daily paper and smell the newsprint as I turn the pages...how about you? 
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Oh this is TOO SAD! I love Borders. We don't have one near us, but if I get the chance, Lee and I both love exploring. I love the smell and the ambiance of book stores. A real crying shame!
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
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I personally hate reading long items on a screen. Anything over about 10-15 minutes of reading is printed out and then read. (Damn the trees! Full speed ahead!) Actually, computers and high speed printers have probably made wasting paper much easier than in the past. So much for our "paperless society". I don't know if books will ever go away entirely, but it certainly is being diminished by electronic media. I had a friend in the Secret Service on the Carter detail who traveled with him around the world (and boy, does that guy travel!) Instead of taking several books with him, he had hundreds on a Kindle. It only makes sense. The one thing that will save books, I think, is the fact that they will never be obsolete. Buggy whips, shaving cream brushes, telegraph terminals, telephone switchboards were all done away with, because the industry they were made for vanished due to their being replaced. A Kindle may show books on a screen, but it's not like it means books aren't read as quickly. A human will read as fast as he had before, just on an annoying screen. Diminished but never replaced - at least in my lifetime. I suppose my kids won't care, perhaps. They've read nothing but real books up to now (ages 10 and 7). I see no reason to change that in the near future.
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Paperbacks are easily replaced, but the big colorful picture books are one-of-a-kind. They don't play well on small screens and need to held and caressed with care. Some things need to be held in your lap with the pages turned by human hand.
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
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On the other hand, I was think about the following this morning. If books are going electronic, this of the improvements that could be made to the way we think about and read them. For example, reading battle histories as most of us do, it is sometimes hard to get and idea about the timing of movements on maps. Not anymore! Now, the maps can move like a Harry Potter newspaper! Now you read along and when you want to get the visuals on where the action happen you click the map and see it happen, in sequence at whatever speed you want and over and over. Also, they could now become truly multi-media and could incorporate videos or interviews regarding the subject at hand. Moving pictures in kids books? Sure! Who wouldn't like to see Sylvester McMonkey McBean's machine remove the belly stars from those Sneetches! (The only problem there would be if they just started to turn into cartoons on a Kindle. You gotta still read kiddies!)
