Sony Corporation came out this week with the announcement of two new E-readers that it hopes will mount a formidable challenge to Amazon’s Kindle (paperless book). According to an Information Week article, the handheld electronic readers will be able to store about 350 books with a two week battery life.

The announcement leads me to ask something. Do you foresee a time when you will  do all of your reading (Bible, devotional, study, newspapers) on a handheld electronic device, laptop, or desktop?

Over the months I’ve heard conflicting predictions about this subject. One expert told us that even though, as a society,  we are doing more and more reading online, and even though newspapers are folding due to the influence of i.e. Craigslist.com’s approach to i.e. classified ads, there’s some evidence that even young people prefer to have both paper and electronic sources rather than either/or.

But here’s what I’m really interested in. As I continue to find Bible software enormously helpful in doing research, and even though online searches provide far more information that I could get from most of my paper books, I sometimes wonder whether I’ve lost some of the “personal relationship” with my Bible.

At this point I don’t know the answer. But am wondering whether you have your own read on whether there is a “spiritual” or “heart” effect that draws you to either electronic or paper sources?

I ask realizing that it may just be what we are most familiar with, since prior to parchment, it was leather, and prior to that and even for a long time following many people couldn’t even read, or have “scrolls” of their own.

So again, when we really want to get serious with God (and our own heart), are we as inclined to do it with an online Bible as with our old leather or hardback?

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