iDream of iPads

Anyone know of a little company called Apple? 

They make neat little gadgets that play music and sexy-looking computers and laptops. 

You may have heard of them.

My family and I have been fans of Apple since their first computer came out and, other than my computer at work *sigh* my life is 100% Mac.  The Mac vs PC debate does not need to happen in our house.  There are three laptops, one desktop, two phones and several mp3 players that are all sporting the ubiquitous apple logo on them.  Oh and an AppleTV just to round things out in the entertainment department.

If Apple made insulin pumps, I would use theirs without question.  It would be stylish, have fabulous features, be absolutely intuitive and probably sing me to sleep if I wanted.

I have a few loves in my life.  Apple products are one of them. 

Reading is another. 

I learned how to read before they taught us in school and never looked back. I devour books and share the best ones with friends.  I've been accused of peddling books the way some people deal heroin.  At one point, three ladies with whom I shared an office were all reading the same book series at the same time and each one of them came in every morning with their update.  Having already read the books, I loved hearing their reactions to the latest plot twist - knowing that an even crazier one was lurking in the next chapter. 

For me, reading is both a solitary and a group activity.  Holding a book is a very tactile experience. I love watching my books get more and more worn as they exchange hands. I love a bookshelf overloaded with memories and I love rereading the best of the best. 

So here's the problem. I'm feeling a greater and greater pull to merge my two loves: Apple and reading.

The reason that I am agonizing?  the iPad. 

The thought of reading the newspaper or my favourite blogs on an iPad is quite appealing.  Yet, the thought of reading a book on an iPad still feels very aversive to me. 

I understand the appeal, I really do.  It's portable - I can bring a huge collection of books on vacation and never exceed the weight restriction on the plane.  It's instant.  I decide I want to read a book and it's on the iPad in seconds.  It's environmentally friendly - no trees will be cut down to support my habit. 

But I like holding my books.  I like the weight of them on my chest when I read in bed.  I like watching the bookmark migrate a little more each day. I like how pretty books can be.  I love lending them to friends and having them returned covered in coffee stains and apologies.  Books are meant to be read, shared and treasured.

*sigh*

The sad thing is that I know how this will turn out.  I know what will win out in the end.  I will be reading books on an iPad.

I think I'm just sad because it feels like the end of an era.  It was no big deal to go from cassettes to CDs and an even smaller deal to go from CD walkmen to iPods.  But it felt like the end of something important when we went from records to cassettes. 

That's how I feel now.  Maybe because books have been the norm for my entire life and, in a world that changes by the minute, that's a very very long time.  Maybe because I will agonize until I finally get an iPad and then, in a few years, there will be something to replace that.  I feels like I will be trading in a faithful friend for the gadget of the moment. 

Let me just get through the pile of books by the bed first and then I'll decide...

Of course by then it will be my birthday and I will probably get a few books as gifts...

...and then it's Christmas...

*sigh*