If I only had a spine

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If I only had a spine\nThe New York Times often publishes op-eds in which e-books are devoured. Ironically, I read these pieces - written by the same people who ignore that today "online" makes more business sense than "print" - on my New York Times app for the Blackberry. As an undergraduate on Grounds I hardly had time to deviate from my professors' literary choices. As an alumnus, however, I've immersed myself into numerous titles, most of them in Kindle versions. My Kindle has changed my reading culture. One, I get to read in any position without worrying about the pages hanging out. Two, the device automatically saves highlights and notes into a database I can later use for research. Three, and most importantly, I take my e-library wherever I go. The only part I lament is that I wish I used my Kindle as an undergraduate, rather than carrying books from Bice to Cabell, Wilson to Clemons. I understand many readers prefer the "smell" of pages and "touching" a book, as I enjoy writing a letter more than sending an email. But I choose to acknowledge the advantages of the latter and write a letter or two only every so often. Perhaps I blame my youth or my filosofía progresista, but I believe we must welcome the future while respecting the past. The people whining on The New York Times are not much different from those Greeks who were afraid that writing would limit humans' memory.

Aquiles Damiron-Alcantara\nCLAS '11