How E-Readers are Changing the Way Some Read

I think technology is amazing. I still remember diligently planning with my friends and family where to meet up after school, in the mall or anywhere in general. It felt like a game of Clue. Meet me by the clock tower at 4 o'clock with the homework assignment. This was the day when there were no cell phones (smart phones? I was happy if it even came in color!), GPS systems, Kinect, e-readers, etc.

I know not many people look at and wonder what Braille is and wonder why some books have large typefaces on it, but it's because some people are visually impaired. Even though I'm an avid fan of paperback books and I do not own an e-reader, I do appreciate how the e-reader has revolutionized the way people read today.

I think it's wonderful that people created a way for blind and visually impaired people to join the fun. Please see the video below, and know that paperback or e-reader, everyone should at least have the ability to read.

the cab ride

rain splattered against the cold window

my breath fogging up the glass as I said

my address and slumped against torn navy blue

leather, thick purse straps falling down, down

and it hit with a thud and she’d ask what do you

have in there, anyway? rocks? but I’d always

laugh it off, but now I wish I’d showed her what

I kept, my cosmetics, knock-off Coach wallet

and a journal with her faded picture skotch taped

to the first page, I wanted to throw it at her

see! you know I love you, best friend, but

that time is now long gone. Watching the meter

run, run with blood pumping through my veins

ragged gasps for air, sweaty brown locks sticking

to the back of my neck, tear streaked cheeks,

she said I was going to be a runner one day,

maybe even beat her time. Well, all I know

is that I did beat her time, but not

in the way she intended. The cab stopped. I went

to pay but he refused. It’s on me, he said, before

driving back the twenty miles to the city.

-Madeline Wahl