Technology_Is_Changing_Reading

The advent of the Internet has brought enormous changes to human life; primarily, by reducing costs and simplifying the way to obtain information. With a computer and an internet connection it’s now possible to perform various activities, such as planning holidays, booking hotels or tickets flights, choosing a restaurant for dinner, chatting with friends, writing on facebook, checking e-mails, and reading e-books. The Internet has the ability to connect people and allows them to share knowledge and information in different ways. Before the advent of this virtual reality, printed words were the only vehicle to get reliable information. Owing to the proliferation of access to texts of many varieties online, reading itself is undergoing fundamental changes. Changes in reading, writing, thinking, approaching, buying e-books or printed books are only a few of the differences that the virtual reality has brought. Many specialists are arguing whether e-books are going to substitute for printed books forever. Although, they have different opinions and points of view, they all agree with the fact that technology has chenged reading and writing reality permanently. According to Alberto Manguel (2010), different methods or devices modify, not only reading and writing, but also readers’ understanding. As a matter of fact, reading or writing on a laptop differ from reading and writing on paper. The use of a new technology involves not only a particular method, but also a new approach to it and a new conception of space and time. Manguel (2010) outlines “ Texts spoken or cut into a piece of clay, drawn on a sheet of paper or fingered on a phone screen, are not merely different incarnations of the same text, but creatures of different species.” In other words, the nature and value of these two methods differ from each other to the point of commensurate comparison, even though this difference might be hard to define. According to Manguel (2010), e-books have positive and negative aspects. First of all, they have no history, they are impersonal, false and static. On the contrary, original books are more personal, they carry with them a feeling of belonging, they are corruptible and have an history. Many people prefer having a tangible contact with the original, something manageable and consistent, instead of a detached screen. A book could be a good gift, an ancient book could have a great value; by contrast, an e-book has always the same valuation. Finally, printed texts have had a great importance in folklore as they are a consequence of the oral tradition. The transition from book to e-book has triggered an unstoppable change in the history of reading and writing. The use of a new device, such as the Kindle or the iPad, involves not only a translation from ink to pixel, but also a new conception of reading, writing and selling. According to Steven Johnson (2009), buying e-books on an iPad is easier than in a bookshop; in fact, with this new device it is possible to purchase virtual texts directly from the online library, only by a touch. At any time of the day, millions of texts are immediatly available. According to the author, this solution compromises the quality of reading; firstly, because the readers are led by an impulse to always buy new e-books, and they are less concentrated on the reading itself. Johnson (2009) states “In other words, an infinite bookstore at your fingertips is great news for book sales, and may be great news for the dissemination of knowladge, but not necessarily so great for that most finite of 21st-century resources: attention.” As a matter of fact, iPad is considered as a source of distraction, navigating through the Internet is as easy as buying a new e-book or checking e-mails. Furthermore, Mr. Johnson, in his article, reports, As a result, I fear that one of the great joys of book reading – the total immersion in another world, or in the world of the author’s ideas – will be compromised. We all may read books the way we increasingly read magazines and newspapers: little bit here, little bit there. Another fundamental aspect, is that reading online eliminates the sense of loneliness that has always characterized books reading. At any time, it is possible to chat with strangers about a chapter of a text, exchange opinions and so on. According to Sue Halpern (2010), the new technology has contributed to sharing knowledge and new ideas. Making easier to share knowledge, some e-books are free of charge, others have a cheap fixed price of $ 9.99. The two most famous devices, which allow readers to read virtual books are Kindle and iPad. They differ in shape, in size, and in applications. The previous one is the Kindle, it is specifically dedicated to e-books reading. iPad is the revolutionary one. It contains various applications for games, news and e-books. Halpern (2010) states, Apple not only straddled Amazon’s shoulder’s when designing the app, it found the finest e-book application for the iPhone, called Classics, lifted its best features – a virtual bookshelf filled with the book jackets of virtual books and pages that curl and turn like paper pages- and enhanced them. Turn the iPad horizontally and the book on the screen instantly shows left and right pages. Turn it vertically and there’s a single long page. Apple has designed the iPad as a multifunctional technology, in the middle between a computer and an e-reader; the greatest aspect is that it keeps the book’s shape and it is easy to use. All these features make the new device attractive and they simplify the way of sharing knowledge. The idea that technology is changing reading has raised different opinions and ideas concerning this topic. According to Manguel (2010), digital books are false, impersonal, static and produce a feeling of distance and don’t have an history. On the contrary, books are alive and personal and have a fundamental role in history. In addition to Manguel’s opinion, Johnson (2009) points out two main problems concerning new technology; in particular the lack of attention and the impulse to buy of the reader. In fact, the reader is driven far away from deep-focus reading. While Manguel outlines the importance of book in folklore as a consequence of the oral tradition, Johnson points out the fact that with new devices e-book’s content loses importance, in fact, e-book is seen as a commercial object and it loses its high cultural value. Contrasting with Manguel and Johnson’s opinions, Halpern (2010) states that multifunctional devices, such as the iPad, contribute to sharing knowledge, keep readers up to date with news organization such as BBC and NPR, provide up to date news and facilitate the circulation of new ideas. Furthermore, Johnson highlights a new aspect concerning online reading; that is, the connection between readers, owing to the social networks, eliminates the sense of loneliness that has always characterized books reading. Regarding this statement, Manguel and Johnson show the negative aspects of this new reality which leads readers far away from knowledge; in contrast, Halpern highlights the positive aspects of readers connection, which is sharing knowledge. To conclude, the proliferation of access to texts of many varieties online, reading itself is undergoing fundamental changes. Changes in reading, writing, thinking, approaching, buying e-books or books are only a few of the differences that this virtual reality has brought. Many specialists are arguing whether e-books are going to substitute for printed books forever. While Manguel (2010) thinks that digital books are false, impersonal, static and produce a feeling of distance and don’t have an history, Halpern (2010) believes that the new technology has contributed to sharing knowledge and new ideas. Although, they have different opinions and points of view, they all agree with the fact that technology has changed the reading and writing reality permanently. Although, many people still prefer traditional reading, the new reality is becoming more marked, in fact, e-book sales continue to grow up rapidely. Today media are boosting e-book market, as a consequence, it is clear that in the near future it will become the main reality. REFERENCE LIST A. Manguel (2010). No Technology is Innocent. The Case for Books: Past, Present and Future. Sydney: The Australian. S. Halpern (2010). The New York Review of Books: The iPad Revolution. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/jun/10/ipad-revolution/'page=2 S. Johnson (2009). How the E-Book Will Change the Way We Read and Write. Retrieved April 22, 2009, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123980920727621353.html#printMode