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August 29, 2014

Why can't we just get along?

I get many email and Facebook updates daily about the eBook/paper copy wars.  So many times the "controversy" is expressed as an either/or situation.  Either you like eBooks and hate paper books or you think eBooks are evil and love paper books.

I, for one, have no opinion.  Well, I do but it is not either/or it is and.  I love both.  Equally.  Period.

As a reader I love the convenience of picking up one small device (or my phone for that matter) and having every book I have wanted to read in the past 8 or so years at my fingertips.  A sense of compactness, accessibility, and order prevails (note: I also like the Oxford comma, to further delineate my place in THAT controversy.  Please don't ask how I pronounce controversy.) 

But when it comes to certain books I like paper.  I trialed the eBook version (an app actually) of the Book of Common Prayer and found it less than satisfactory.  EBooks don't lend themselves to flipping around to specific parts at certain times in a service.  The Bible for another.  I just can't get into reading it in an EBook format although I still use my EBook version when I want search.  For that it is a great tool.

In a third arena, as an author, I publish all my books in both versions.  So if you are an aficionado of one or the other you can read me however you wish.

So there it is.  No war.  Peace and harmony.  Are we making something out of nothing in pursuing this war.  Definitely!