Thursday, October 21, 2010

That Old Thing???

I love the internet.

It's handy, and useful, and has lots of good information available on it.

I am not opposed to 'new' things.

BUT, did you know old things can still be useful?

Matthew is reading a new book and is frequently asking me what various words mean. Well, the other day he stumped me. And I said, "Matthew, watch this!" I walked over to the bookshelf, took out the dictionary, and looked up the word in question.
Not only did we find out what the word meant, but we learned how to pronounce it correctly, and there was even a picture of the item in question.
All that and we didn't even have to turn on the computer, wait for it to boot up, log in to anything, or type passwords. And the only tab I had to use was the one which directed me to the 'C' section of the dictionary.

My kids seem to have the attitude that the dictionary is out-dated and useless. How fun it was to show them differently. *grin*
But now I am wondering at the validity of Matthew's statement as I sat on the couch with the book on my lap. He said, "I bet the next generation won't even know what a dictionary is."
Hmmm. I wonder. The one I have on my shelf has a copyright date of 1981. Does Webster still print these things?

Karen

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lol...I have my Webster's New Dictionary of the English Language {2001 Edition} and Vine's Concise Dictionary of the Bible in the shelves of our desk located right beside our computer. I find them more useful at times than relying on the ole' internet. Our daughter downloads books on her "Nook" and is trying to get me..."Hooked" on a "Nook"...but...I still love the feel and smell when I flip through the pages of plain ole' books!!

Big Fan of Libraries,
Blessings my friend and have a wonderful day :0}

Debby Ann

gianna said...

I hope so! You totally don't want to get me started on how we better still be reading books and not kindles (or whatever they are calleD!)

I love you, Karen! And thanks so much for encouraging me on my last post about humiliation!

Karen Hossink said...

Debby Ann - Yeah. And when the power is out, or the internet is 'down' that ol' book still works just fine! *grin*
I don't think I'll ever get into electronic books. Ever.

Gianna - Just heard a conversation about kindles and nooks and e-books this morning on the radio. They were saying how great it all is. But if I can't underline important concepts and write in the margins, I'm not interested! LOL!

Jerralea said...

It's always useful to have a Scrabble dictionary! *grin

Karen Hossink said...

Jerri - I love Scrabble! And you're right. A perfect use for the dictionary. *grin*