Are We Out of Touch?

In Thursday's class we talked about the changes in how we read and write. We saw examples of how some high schoolers across the country can write essay passages that seem to have come from a fourth grader. But our reading has changed also. We are not prepared to read the complex texts that we encounter many times in college. These are all changes we must endure and combat. Another change we are seeing is the introduction of more and more e-books and e-readers. Where does that leave the proper paper and bound book?

In the article I found online about the future of reading, the author talks about how reading on an e-book is not truly reading. We cannot touch the pages of the book anymore. Instead of feeling connected to the world by reading the book and flipping the pages, we scroll down and swipe to the next page. This does not mean we cannot feel the screen as we do these actions, but it does mean that we are not physically moving the page. The author continues that by reading a book, we can feel the finished product of work that someone put in to print the pages and to bind them together for it to be presented as a book. On an e-book, we cannot feel that work, we can only see the outcome of the work that went into scanning the pages for them to be put into a digital form.

I agree with this. Although the e-books are nice for students and others with many books, regular books made of paper offers a sense of satisfaction. The author describes reading a book as a process that you can follow as you turn the pages. Each page turn is a step in the process of finishing the book. This is how I have always read books. I have always read and then looked to see, not only how far I have left to go, but also how far I have already gone.

Image from the Larkspur Library website

E-books are lightweight and can bring in a sense of community by allowing readers to talk about a passage or a character, but the bulkier and heavier books can foster community as well. The author describes reading his children a bedtime story. That brings the family a sense of togetherness, but the feeling a parent gets reading to his or her children can only come from a proper book. The same effect could not be felt reading from a screen. The same can be said about a teacher. A kindergarten teacher can only properly read to a the class by holding up a bound paper book so the students can see the pictures while the teacher continues to tell the story.

We may all be surprised by the outcome of the epic battle between e-books and true books. No matter the ending, the lesson remains the same - at least people are reading.


Article: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2012/11/reading_on_a_kindle_is_not_the_same_as_reading_a_book.single.html