The future of books and reading

Response to module 2- technology and learning

In a continuation to my last blog post I will explore whether printed books will retain a place in the future or instead will they be replaced by digitalised versions? Gibson (2011) discusses the risk of books being neglected for the digital world in her thesis ‘The Impact of Physical Features on the book Selection process of fourth and eighth graders’. In chapter one, Gibson (2011) discusses how children opt for the digital world over books as it is seen as being more engaging and innovative. Gibson claims that “for some, books can’t even begin to compete with the latest technologies available to children, such as the Kindle” (Gibson, 2011, p.1).

This makes you wonder will books printed with ink on paper become a thing of the past, being replaced by the eBook?

Sasson (n.d.) explains that “an eBook is a book in electronic format”. It is purchased and downloaded off the internet and can be stored on a computer, laptop, smartphone, iPad, Kindle and any kind of device that allows text to be read on a screen. There are many benefits to these digitalised versions of books which critically challenge the purpose and existence of printed books. One clear positive is the difference in price- digital versions of books, being much more affordable than their printed counterparts and sometimes they may even be free (Wood, 2017 & Sasson, n.d.)! As Presnell (2014) states in her article “nobody has $30 to pay for a book they’ll read once and then put on a shelf or give away”. Presnell (2014) also raises the environmental benefits of digital versions as they do not require trees to be cut down and manufactured into paper for their pages. They are also easy to access and can be purchased and downloaded within minutes on your device- eliminating the need to go to the library, bookstore, or to wait for your book to arrive in the mail (Sasson, n.d.). In addition Karsenti (n.d.) explores the portability benefits of the eBooks, as hundreds of books can be carried with you without the concern of weight.

While there are many benefits of the eBook in comparison to the paper book version Karsenti (n.d.), Gibson (2011) & Wood (2017) all stress that this comparison overlooks the main issue prevalent in society today. In their articles (Karsent, n.d., Gibson, 2011 & Wood, 2017) every author agrees that the real issue is not whether digitalised or printed books are better but on societies value of reading- claiming that people are just not interested or motivated to read anymore. So no matter what the version of text, the underlying issue that needs to be addressed is how to keep the audience motivated and interested to read.

References:

Gibson, B.L. (2011). The Impact of Physical Features on the book selection process of fourth and eighth graders (Master’s Thesis, College of Bowling Green State University, Ohio, United States). Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/rws_etd/document/get/bgsu1300468939/inline

Karsenti, T. (n.d.). 25 Main benfits of the eBook. Retrieved from http://www.karsenti.ca/25_ebook.pdf

Presnell, B. (2014, April 3). Books are meant to be shared.  The Dispatch. Retrieved from http://www.the-dispatch.com/lifestyle/20140403/books-are-meant-to-be-shared

Sasson, R. (n.d.). The Benefits and Advantages of Ebooks. Success Consciousness. Retrieved from https://www.successconsciousness.com/ebooks_benefits.htm

Wood, Z. (2017, March 18). Paperback fighter: sales of physical books now outperform digital titles. The guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/17/paperback-books-sales-outperform-digital-titles-amazon-ebooks