In chapter six of The Shallows, Carr brings up a very interesting point about the new technology we have today. Old Fashioned books or Digital Readers? Paperback books or Kindles? Carr presents the argument and explains the pros for both types of reading. The old fashioned book would be better because you can take it anywhere and don't have to worry about its condition. You can loan the book to a friend, or save it to read again another day. A digital reader can also be taken anywhere, but there are precautions about spilling liquids on it or dropping it. At first, most people stuck with reading old fashioned books because the digital reader wasn't perfected yet. You could only read it in certain sunlight and the battery life would not last forever. At the time, books still seemed easier to use and more convenient.
But, in this new era, digital readers have improved very much. Digital readers, such as Kindles, now have specialized screens for better view of the text, you can adjust the size of the text to make it easier to read, and you can add bookmarks and highlight certain passages that you have read. Another advantage in using digital readers is the prices of books. While in bookstores you would buy books for ten/eleven dollars, you can now buy digital books from the amazon market for about half the price. Kindles have become very popular, not only because of the special features for reading, but also for the internet connection, music storage, and app downloads you can store on it. Although the kindle seems very enticing, I prefer the old fashioned books. I, for one, enjoy buying a new book and smelling the "new book smell" it has in its pages. It's all apart of the experience of reading a book then saving it in your bookshelves to read again later in life.
Which do you prefer ? The new digital readers with high tech internet service and app storage or the old fashioned books with that new book smell? Do you own a kindle, and if so, is reading easier/more convenient on it?
I myself find the old fashioned book easier to read for multiple reasons. I don't own an actual e-Reader, but I used the app on my dad's iPad last year. Shortly after I finished the book, I deleted the app and decided books are for me.
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Sure, in some cases it is cheaper (the book was free online), I can change the font size, and I can do all this fancy stuff, but because I was able to do all of that, I don't think I was actually absorbing information from the book because there were just so many other things I could do at the same time (the device being an iPad, not just an e-Reader). I would swap in and out of apps, check my Facebook, and go on YouTube. When it came time to get back to the book, I'd already forgotten everything I read twenty minutes before. Sure, the same thing happens when reading a book (the taking a break, etc etc.), but if you actually sit and stay committed, you can get through it. With an electronic device, I'm sure our minds will wander off and try to use in different ways.
Another reason, a personal one that many people might share. When I'm holding a book to my chest, I absorb the information through osmosis (Ellen Swieck). Just kidding on that one, but the real reason I enjoy the actual book better is that I can visually see how much I have left and plan better.
This may just be me, but I enjoy reading old fashioned books in comparison to the eReaders.
There are so many books that we as students are expected to read, and as you mention ebooks are just so much cheaper or even sometimes free. I read Brave new world on my Kindle app on my Iphone, the pdf was free and I could read it anywhere I took my phone. The convenience is what gets me. It's just so much easier to find a book with the tips of you're fingers then by searching through shelves like a mad man. Who's to say it's such a bad thing though? The less books the less paper, and that's more environmentally friendly. I wouldn't mind at all if books became extinct, less waste and less paper cuts.
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