With the dawn of the Internet crossing borders and visiting other countries has become an easy task, the youth of today are so used to the ease and the fast pace of the online media world, it’s in their blood. Could you imagine what would happen if it broke down? Well, I know if we have a momentary lapse of connection, children come screaming from their rooms because they can’t get online. Not that it happens very often, but their world just falls to pieces if it does.

Person reading from laptop

Growing up all we had was a radio, a record player and a TV, those times seem so far away, lost behind circuit boards and hard-drives. A book was a book, a letter was a letter and other countries were miles away. In my children’s eyes those were the dark ages, they seem amazed at how we survived such an ordeal, how could we get by without e-mail, PDA’s, mp3′s, Skype and every other technology they now have at their fingertips.

Not that I hate these inventions, I’ve taken to them like a fish to water, I’ve welcomed them with open arms. Connecting with others, friends and family throughout the world, making new friends I may never see in real life. Reading, searching, I have the knowledge of millions in a few seconds.

My searches lead me to online novels, some only ever published online, authors I’ve never heard of, stories unfold on my screen and I lap up every word as a cat drinks her milk, licking her paws when she’s finished. I enjoy the ease and the simplicity, and knowing I have millions of novels waiting for me gives me great pleasure.

Not that I’ve forgotten my old friends, sometimes feeling nostalgic my fingers run across the back of the books on my bookshelf as I read the titles. I pick one out and open it, welcome the smell of the pages and the feeling of paper as I turn the pages and read the words, they enthrall me, cover me with their enchantments and draw me closer. Spellbound, I walk to my favourite chair and curl up for an hour or two, leaving the real world behind, peace and quiet enters the room, in my mind the wars rumble, lightning strikes and the sound of thunder fills me, I hear distant voices drawing closer as I read on…

In my mind there is no doubt, holding a novel between my hands, flipping the pages, feeling it, smelling it, gives me far more pleasure than sitting in front of a computer screen or reading on a hand held device, maybe it’s because I grew up with the real thing. However, I do use these devices and love that I can discover new stories that never make it to bookstores and have a hundred online novels with me, without having to drag a suitcase along that weighs a ton.

They are practical aren’t they?

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