Dylan Jenniges
LEP 400: Sustainability
Project 3# Interview In today’s day and age, technology is becoming more prevalent than ever before. Everywhere we go, we see people on their phones, tablets, and e-readers. I have interviewed three people who use both e-readers and physical books to read: Andrew Hemp, Debra Jenniges, and Shirley Knakmuhs. I interviewed them to gain perspective on which form of reading books do they prefer. The first person I interviewed was my friend Andrew Hemp. He is a 25 year old Computer Repairman. Last year Hemp moved from Marshall, Minnesota to Burbank, California. He enjoys spending his time taking pictures of anything and everything. Hemp loves the outdoors as it provides him with fantastic views to capture them with his camera. One thing he loves to do is head down to Santa Monica and lay on the beach. He loves to read while lying on the beach. Hemp enjoys reading a good book whenever he gets a chance.
“I easily prefer to use e-readers compared to physical books, and it isn’t even close. E-readers are super easy to use for me. I grew up using all sources of different technologies, so I have no trouble what so ever using them.” (Hemp, personal communication, March 16, 2016) Having access to more than one book and switching between books while reading are the two biggest reasons why Hemp prefers e-readers. “I love to switch between books while I read. It is a must to use an e-reader to switch between the books. It would be a major hassle if I didn’t have an e-reader. I would have to bring at least 5 different books with me to the beach. This wouldn’t be ideal for anyone.” (Hemp, personal communication, March 16, 2016) I asked him if he has any difficulties seeing the screen during the day when he reads at the beach. I know, I personally have difficulty seeing my phone screen during the day unless the brightness is all the way up. However, this isn’t a problem for Hemp. He has no trouble seeing the screen. I described him the environmental factors that are described in the article and asked him if he would consider changing his answer. Hemp wouldn’t because those factors equate to very little when it comes to the position from fossil fuels. The article is making it seem like physical books are the way to go but in reality they aren’t.
The second person I interviewed was my mother Debra Jenniges. She is a 54 year old receptionist at Meadowlands. Jenniges loves to spend countless hours reading books. She loves work during the winter time because work tends to be much slower. She can spend more time reading her books. Jenniges spends at least 4 hours on the weekends reading.
The convenience factor for e-readers is the biggest reason why she prefers them. Jenniges doesn’t like the size of some of the books. She often uses her phone as an e-reader. “Books are bigger and fatter than e-readers so they aren’t as easy to bring them with you to places. I use my phone a lot to read books especially at work. E-readers are small and can easily fit in your pocket or purse.” (Jenniges, personal communication, March 19, 2016) Jenniges loves being an Amazon Prime member. She enjoys getting free books and discounts on books from Amazon. I described her the environmental factors that are described in the article and asked her if she would consider changing her answer. Jenniges wouldn’t change her answer because of the amount she reads. “I have read well over 40-50 books so the payback of the fossil fuel, water use, and mineral consumption the impact of 1 e-reader is well worth it. I don’t plan on stopping reading anytime soon. The purchase of an e-reader is well worth it for me.” (Jenniges, personal communication, March 19, 2016)
The third person I interviewed was my grandmother Shirley Knakmuhs. She is a 78 year old retiree. Much like her daughter, Debra Jenniges, Knakmuhs enjoys reading books. Being retired, she spends a lot of her free time reading. She can’t remember the last day; she didn’t spend at least some time reading a book. She reads books every single day. Tied with sewing, reading is her favorite hobby.
Knakmuhs enjoys using both an e-reader and a physical book. She doesn’t have a preference as to which one she likes more. She uses them both to their advantages. Instead of focusing on one or the other, she focuses on both of them. “I like to use both e-readers and physical books throughout the day. I tend to use physical books during the day and e-readers at night. I’m not sure why that is the case but it is. My eyes tend to get tired from looking at the e-reader screen for a long time so I try to limit the amount of my time on the e-reader. Hence why I use both of them. (Knakmuhs, personal communication, March 19, 2016)
I described her the environmental factors that are described in the article and asked her if she would consider changing her answer. Knakmuhs would change her answer strictly only using e-readers. She had no idea and didn’t consider the environmental factors when she made her decision on using both of them. She will continue to use both but she will definitely limit the amount of physical books she will continue to buy.
I interviewed a Computer Repairman, Receptionist, and a retiree about their preference on e-readers or physical books. All of them preferred using an e-reader and only one of them actually uses a physical book to read. The general census was the amount of reading that each individual I interviewed was well above the average. It is a no brainer for each one of these three to have and use an e-reader for most if not all of their reading. Perhaps to an individual who doesn’t read a lot, it would make more sense to have a couple of his or her favorite books and that’s it. No point of spending up to $200 for a kindle to read books on. You can tie this with almost everything in life. If you’re going to use something, buy it and use it. If you’re not going to use something, don’t buy it.