Monday, January 24, 2011
e-Reader Wars
I have taken the dive into the world of e-readers. Love it! The idea that I can carry a whole library of books in one compact package just thrills me to no end. I do also enjoy the feel of a real book in my hands, but the Kobo is so much easier to hold while reading in bed, or to carry into a coffee shop. I am typically reading two or three books at a time, and since one of those is usually the Bible, my backpack can get very heavy to carry.
I bought a Kobo reader because it was the most economical reader, and since I wasn't sure how I would like this I wanted to make to lowest investment. I have discovered two drawbacks to the Kobo. One is that there is no back light, so you need a clip-on light if you don't want to disturb your spouse when you are reading in bed. My wife actually came up with an ingenious solution. She got one of those LED lights with an elastic strap for your head. The light actually sits on your forehead and it has four different brightness settings. You can also change the angle to get the best illumination of your subject. I still prefer a nice table lamp, and have yet to buy a clip-on light, but the "headlight" does the job.
The other minor annoyance is that is does not have a highlighting feature. I am big on highlighting my books, so it remains to be seen if this will be a long-term deterrent.
Now, onto the real reason I decided to write about this. The retail wars over the e-reader market. Once again, a new and exciting technology is being bogged down in corporate greed. Unfortunately the book retailers and electronics companies who have jumped into this market have decided that they must attempt to have their reader control the whole environment. They have done this by putting DRM protection on their e-books. They claim this is to protect copyrighted material. I think the truth is to force you to buy your books from them if you have their reader. What I mean is that if you buy an e-book from Amazon it can only be read on a Kindle. The same goes for SONY and Barnes & Noble. They will all tell you that you are welcome to download their software to your PC or laptop for free. Then you can read your books. The problem is I already have a PC and a laptop. I bought an e-reader so that my books would be more portable, so putting their software on my laptop really defeats the purpose. At least for me it does.
Now, here is the good news for my friend who are Christians. You can buy books from Christianbooks.com that are DRM-free. That means you can download them and put them on any e-reader you already own. Perhaps more exciting is that you can loan the book to a friend. This second point is not extremely important to me, but it is nice to know it's there. I believe in directly supporting the author and publisher of a good book by purchasing a copy myself. I am so pleased that it is a Christian retailer that is leading the way to open this technology. This approach will encourage e-reader technology growth far more than proprietary wrangling to keep a customer locked into your environment. Bravo to Christianbooks.com.
I bought a Kobo reader because it was the most economical reader, and since I wasn't sure how I would like this I wanted to make to lowest investment. I have discovered two drawbacks to the Kobo. One is that there is no back light, so you need a clip-on light if you don't want to disturb your spouse when you are reading in bed. My wife actually came up with an ingenious solution. She got one of those LED lights with an elastic strap for your head. The light actually sits on your forehead and it has four different brightness settings. You can also change the angle to get the best illumination of your subject. I still prefer a nice table lamp, and have yet to buy a clip-on light, but the "headlight" does the job.
The other minor annoyance is that is does not have a highlighting feature. I am big on highlighting my books, so it remains to be seen if this will be a long-term deterrent.
Now, onto the real reason I decided to write about this. The retail wars over the e-reader market. Once again, a new and exciting technology is being bogged down in corporate greed. Unfortunately the book retailers and electronics companies who have jumped into this market have decided that they must attempt to have their reader control the whole environment. They have done this by putting DRM protection on their e-books. They claim this is to protect copyrighted material. I think the truth is to force you to buy your books from them if you have their reader. What I mean is that if you buy an e-book from Amazon it can only be read on a Kindle. The same goes for SONY and Barnes & Noble. They will all tell you that you are welcome to download their software to your PC or laptop for free. Then you can read your books. The problem is I already have a PC and a laptop. I bought an e-reader so that my books would be more portable, so putting their software on my laptop really defeats the purpose. At least for me it does.
Now, here is the good news for my friend who are Christians. You can buy books from Christianbooks.com that are DRM-free. That means you can download them and put them on any e-reader you already own. Perhaps more exciting is that you can loan the book to a friend. This second point is not extremely important to me, but it is nice to know it's there. I believe in directly supporting the author and publisher of a good book by purchasing a copy myself. I am so pleased that it is a Christian retailer that is leading the way to open this technology. This approach will encourage e-reader technology growth far more than proprietary wrangling to keep a customer locked into your environment. Bravo to Christianbooks.com.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Harry Potter is not any kind of Christian
Last week I read on Beliefblog that author Danielle Tumminio recently published a book, God and Harry Potter, in which she asserts that Harry Potter, of the hugely successful fantasy series, is a good Christian. While she has a point that Harry Potter displays some characteristics of a Christian, her assertion that the character is a "good Christian" can not be defended.
According to Tumminio, she sees Harry Potter "as a seeker in a world where Christianity is not the vocabulary. I see him best as a seeker trying to live a life of faith in the same way a Christian seeker tries to live a life grace.” She then goes on to say that Christians have not been fair to Harry Potter, and that she is shocked that so many Christians who a critical of the series have not even read the books.
To be sure, Ms. Tumminio has the credentials to write a compelling book on this subject. She considers herself an Episcopal Christian, and has two Masters in Religion from Yale University's divinity school. So, I am sure her book is a good scholarly work.
Unfortunately, her basic premise is just wrong. Perhaps Harry Potter does learn to love people as he grows through the series. It may also be true that he seeks to do the right thing throughout the series, proving that he grows in morality. However, while these traits do line up with Christian motivations, they do not make Harry Potter a good Christian, nor do these themes make the Harry Potter books good reading for Christians of any age.
A Christian believes in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the savior of all humanity, who took on human form, lived among us for a brief time, was crucified so that our sins may be forgiven and now has returned to live with our Father God in heaven. Jesus opened the way for us to have a personal relationship with God, but that is only possible through faith in Jesus. It is through that faith and through our relationship with Jesus that we desire to love other people and to live in a just a righteous way.
Neither Harry Potter, nor the author, J.K. Rowling, profess faith in Jesus Christ. J.K. Rowling does not suggest ever that her stories are an allegory for God's work in the world. In fact, Rowling has insisted that the main theme of the Harry Potter series is death. If she were a Christian, her main theme would be just the opposite. Her creations have been compared to The Lord of The Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. However, both Tolkien and Lewis were followers of Christ who stated clearly that their books were Biblical allegories.
It is not my desire to condemn J.K. Rowling, nor the Harry Potter books, nor those who read them. Not even the Christians who read them. I have seen a number of young people in my own church carrying the books (even reading them during the Pastor's word!). However, the definition of a Christian begins with believing in Christ. The only proof that Ms. Tumminio has for her thesis is if she can point to Harry Potter's profession of faith in Christ in the books, or J.K. Rowling's statement that she was writing books that are designed to tell the story of Jesus Christ in a new and creative manner.
According to Tumminio, she sees Harry Potter "as a seeker in a world where Christianity is not the vocabulary. I see him best as a seeker trying to live a life of faith in the same way a Christian seeker tries to live a life grace.” She then goes on to say that Christians have not been fair to Harry Potter, and that she is shocked that so many Christians who a critical of the series have not even read the books.
To be sure, Ms. Tumminio has the credentials to write a compelling book on this subject. She considers herself an Episcopal Christian, and has two Masters in Religion from Yale University's divinity school. So, I am sure her book is a good scholarly work.
Unfortunately, her basic premise is just wrong. Perhaps Harry Potter does learn to love people as he grows through the series. It may also be true that he seeks to do the right thing throughout the series, proving that he grows in morality. However, while these traits do line up with Christian motivations, they do not make Harry Potter a good Christian, nor do these themes make the Harry Potter books good reading for Christians of any age.
A Christian believes in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the savior of all humanity, who took on human form, lived among us for a brief time, was crucified so that our sins may be forgiven and now has returned to live with our Father God in heaven. Jesus opened the way for us to have a personal relationship with God, but that is only possible through faith in Jesus. It is through that faith and through our relationship with Jesus that we desire to love other people and to live in a just a righteous way.
Neither Harry Potter, nor the author, J.K. Rowling, profess faith in Jesus Christ. J.K. Rowling does not suggest ever that her stories are an allegory for God's work in the world. In fact, Rowling has insisted that the main theme of the Harry Potter series is death. If she were a Christian, her main theme would be just the opposite. Her creations have been compared to The Lord of The Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. However, both Tolkien and Lewis were followers of Christ who stated clearly that their books were Biblical allegories.
It is not my desire to condemn J.K. Rowling, nor the Harry Potter books, nor those who read them. Not even the Christians who read them. I have seen a number of young people in my own church carrying the books (even reading them during the Pastor's word!). However, the definition of a Christian begins with believing in Christ. The only proof that Ms. Tumminio has for her thesis is if she can point to Harry Potter's profession of faith in Christ in the books, or J.K. Rowling's statement that she was writing books that are designed to tell the story of Jesus Christ in a new and creative manner.
Labels: Christian, Danielle Timminio, God, God and Harry Potter, Harry Potter
