Amazon's Kindle Won't Kill the Book.

My best friend is applying to grad school. Her career of choice: Librarian.

Paragraph one of her career statement: her love of books.

Paragraph two: nonexistent.

This is for her.

An article that will be published on the November 26th issue of Newsweek highlights the features of Amazon’s Kindle, the latest in electronic reading devices and “The future of Reading.”

The Amazon Kindle will be released this week. According to Amazon.com’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, the device has attributes of a book (the dimension of a paperback including the width of the binding) and the best of technology.

It weights 10.3 ounces, doesn’t turn hot, isn’t noisy, has a battery that that can last 30 hours and most importantly “the clarity of a printed book.” You can change the font size, search for words and has enough memory to hold about 200 books. It also has wireless connection (you don’t need a computer to download the book. You can do it all from the Kindle.) which, according to Bezos differentiates the Kindle from anything in the market "This isn't a device, it's a service."

If you are anything like me you are probably calculating the number of hours till you can get your hands on this little device (even though you will never really use it). If you are my best friend you are raising your hands in desperation muttering something about society’s decline and the digitalization of books.

But the truth is, this is the latest gadget in a line of many similar gadgets and not the weapon that will kill books.

Do you really believe a device that “to soothe the anxieties of print-culture stalwarts, in sleep mode… displays retro images of ancient texts, early printing presses and beloved authors like Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen” can kill the book. Please tell me you agree this is the cheesiest thing you have read [today].

Now if you happen to have $399 to spare and about $10 for every book you want to read then go ahead buy the Kindle. Once it hits stores there will be 88,000 digital books at your disposal.

Or you could stop by your local library and borrow a book. Its cheaper and you have more options.

For those “who take fetishlike pleasure in physical books” I can say that the publishing industry is changing, true. But the death of books is nowhere in the forseable future.

And to my little librarian: These little gadgets are part of the develped world (and even there, only for the people who can spend 400 dollars on an electronic device) and sure the library sciences are changing but you can always join me in the part of the world I call home.

Books won’t disappear because the majority of the world can’t afford to have them dissapear.

But who am I to talk. I’m a journalism student who wants to be a print journalist and who will wait for the print Newsweek issue to hit stands to reread the 7 pg article because after the 4th page got tired of reading it on the screen of her laptop.