The Days are Numbered

After reading the Newsweek article on new reading, a sudden surge of impulsive instincts has overthrown all my preconceived notions on e-book reading.

I first heard about it last year in a TV news report, then followed by a considerable number of facebook wall posts of my friends 'in the literary world' announcing that they have purchased  the e-book reader. I was a little skeptic (for lack of a better term) about it during that time.

Why would they want to replace books? What would happen to publishers? Would they have the same plight that Kodak Company had experienced when digital cameras dominated the market? How about the thousand collectors of brand-new and second-hand tomes? Would there be panic buying scenes?

The string of worries and fears seemed to be endless. Then unknowingly I have turned into a hypocrite, selective Luddite living in the twenty-first century. (According to the dictionary installed in my computer, a Luddite is an opponent of technological or industrial change. It was coined after Ned Ludd, 18th century farm worker in Leicestershire, England, who destroyed machinery.) My love for the physical book, particulary children's books, fueled the reluctance for the e-book but not to other gadgets (e.g. mobile phones, computer, mp3 player).

But after going through this article by Steven Levy, I was urged to make a better and more informed decision.

The mental weighing I have done tells me that for every downside of new reading there is a better upside, or three.  The first problem that comes to mind is the price of the Kindle. 

For a second-hand bookstore denizen like me, an internationally-published book priced at two hundred bucks would instantly elicit second-thoughts. (But this one really depends on a person's socio-economic status.) If your pocket couldn't afford a brand-new, hard-bound ShelSilverstein poem collection, then where's the hope of getting a pricey Kindle? This might not pose any problem to the middle and upper classes whose buying power commands (/is controlled by) these manufacturers and distributors, but for a mimimum wage earner it does. To a Marxist, new reading is another potent source of class struggles--particularly a digital divide.

After a closer look, one would find out that in the long run, a reader, i.e. Kindle-using reader, who buys e-book online would get more value for his money than the one who purchases physical books. A Kindle user could get away with the 30% to 50% mark-up or the postage and import costs that he has to pay to import books from England or the USA because in fact many out-of-copyright books are available for free already.  Thus, he'd be able to buy and read more works of literature. Soon, the price of an e-book and the reader would plummet once there are more publishers and manufactures who would succumb to this trend. 

One major argument that has stemmed out is the way this technology-mediated reading affects traditional typographic reading. Some educators have raised their brows when the supporters of new reading suggested that physical books be replaced with e-book readers. In that case, students won't hear their teachers  classic line" Class, bring out your (name of subject) book and open it to page (number)". Instead, it would be like this "Class, turn on your e-book reader and open the file…" For the new generation of teachers and students, this may sound sophisticated, thus, making learning more appealing.

With the memory capacity of an e-book reader, owners are entitled to a wider range of books--making it possible to learn a broader range of information that can be used for a variety of purposes. Technology, in this case, helps the reader realize the functional purpose of reading in one’s life--personally in the form of ludic or pleasure reading, professionally  and as an active member of the society.

The role of the teacher now becomes more challenging and extra exciting for he needs to provoke that something which physical books have elicited from their patronizers--the sense of wonder for learning. (Some call it serendipity.) I can see that there's a possibility for that sense of wonder to vanish from the e-book reading scene. With the bombardment of fast-paced images of computer and video games, technology has created a generation with shorter attention span. Nowadays, rarely would a reader stop and be fixated with a scene or  dialogue and savor the message and image it conveys. Readers in this generation couldn't resist the impulse of knowing how the loose ends in a story be tied. Teachers need to inject that "Aha" moment to their students, in this way giving justice to the effort exerted by men of letters.

The way reading would be taught gets more stimulating because photo, audio, and video sharing becomes easier. Visual and aural learners may find more motivation to participate actively in reading activities. Activating prior knowledge using pictures, songs and video clips wouldn't pose any problem given that the ratio of e-book reader to students is 1:1. Helping children with visual problems like myopia and hyperopia would easily be addressed because font size can be adjusted based on the need of the reader.  But drawing from experience, reading things on my computer screen has led to my declining eyesight.

An added job to the teacher is the need to teach children the proper handling of the e-book reader and the information it gives. Just like a book, an e-book reader should also be handled with utter care for just like any gadget, once trouble gets into the software or its hardware, repair, i.e. expensive repair, is needed.  Responsible handling of information must be instilled to the users. Gadgets like the e-book reader, plus internet connectivity, make plagiarism a constant lurking enemy.

Other pros of using e-book readers include the ease and comfort of carrying  lighter schoolbags--the top answer in an informal survey I've made among Grade 6 pupils in a private school and sparing trees from being cut off and making learning more fun (whatever they meant by that).

In the long run, it’s the education sector--the curriculum developers and education officials--who will decide whether new reading, i.e. the use of e-book readers, will be a boon or bane.

But for the meantime, let’s enjoy the remaining days of the physical books. Lend books,  scour through the shelves of your favourite bookstore, join book clubs, get the autographs of your favourite authors…for the days of the physical books are numbered.


Note: I wrote this paper for my Psychology of Reading class. Shoot! Academic writing is so challenging.