A post that looks at "e-books" and real books ... e-vil vs. good?

I am one who likes the looks of books,
is amused by amazing music,
and finds fellowship

with friends and family

refreshing!

How can anyone who does love books
consider the faddish phenomenom of

"e-books"

a good thing?

Let's resist the lure of "convenience"

and "portability" and "capacity"

with which we are being tempted

to go and buy into

this bibliotechnical masquerade.

I know my quest is quixotic (even my own brother has succumbed to e-vil e-books), but I am ever hopeful that the practice of buying real books at real bookstores will not become extinguished by the convenience of buying "books" bit by bit so that some screen becomes one's illusory "library."
As a public service, I offer the following link:
MOBYLIVES » Do ereaders harm your eyes?
mhpbooks.com

Consider this as well:
Devices like the iPad and the Kindle are a wholly new kind of thing—they function like bookshelves that reject all books except those the manufacturer has blessed. Publishers today worry that retailers like Wal-Mart might control too much of their business—and rightly so. But imagine how much more precarious things would be if Wal-Mart sold bookcases that were programmed to do what the iPad and Kindle do—refuse to hold books bought in other stores, and by canceling Wal-Mart's account, your publishing house would lose access to any customer who didn't have the desire to throw out their Wal-Mart bookcases or Wal-Mart–approved books, or room to add another brand of bookcase. http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/456751-Can_You_Survive_a_Benevolent_Dictatorship_.php

A friend responded by writing:
"Totally agree. I hate reading books on screens, not only can I feel my eyes slowly falling to pieces, but I love the feel of having a book in my hands... cracking the spine for the first time or the smell of a well-loved favorite... all necessary parts of the book-reading experience in my opinion."

I found interesting the phrase "book-reading experience." Also interesting to consider -- what is necessary to be part of "the book-reading experience"?

Anyone who has visited anywhere I have ever lived knows how books figure prominently in my life; the house where my family now lives is certainly no exception (as my witty wife -- long-suffering as she has been for 25 years putting up with my book habit -- likes to quip, "We need no insulation in our walls - the bookcases lining every wall in the house have enough books to do the job just as well!"). I cannot imagine some "e-book" kindling in my heart the joy real books bring to me. My experience of books goes beyond reading, so my response to the cybernetic simplification of "the book-reading experience" comprehends much more than merely "reading" the written word. I understand how some are thrilled by economic convenience, but is there not more to life than that?