A New Era for Reading

Today marked the second time in my life that I came to sit next to a person reading the same book as me on the subway. The last time was over a decade ago, when I was reading Tony Morrison's "Paradise", a weighty tome of a book, especially in hard cover. The lady next to me held an identical copy in her hand. We smiled at each other and read on.

Times have changed since then. As I found my seat on the crowded 6 (which is definitely my least favorite line apart from the G which is only running in Brooklyn and hence does not really concern me), I pulled out my kindle, booted it and started to read, not before checking out the guy sitting to my right cradling his very own gadget - the sexy iPad, deadly enemy to kindles and nooks all over the world. Nowadays I have to squint to see what the other person is reading, since the title is only displayed in a tiny line on top of the "page". Can't tell by the book cover anymore. And squint I did - and noticed with shocked pleasure that in peaceable silence on the noisy train iPad and kindle displayed the same book. The iPadist, however, never noticed. I guess he doesn't squint.