Charlie Glowacki
Writing Project #4: Digital Wreading
Professor Meehan.
The Ipad
Since the creation of the computer and the Internet, the world of information has crossed into a new frontier. The electronic revolution has changed the way people are entertained and the way that people gather information. Books and newspapers have not been abandoned and changed into movies and news television but there has been a great shift in attention. Electronic devices such as the Amazon Kindle or the Ipad could soon have a large impact on the future of the paperback book because they allow more than one book stored in a much smaller space and with using fewer resources. This doesn’t mean that people will stop writing but the average bookstore could very well be non-existent in our near future. Some would say that something such as this could never happen or that it would be an abomination to see the reading community change from reading paper books to reading on the an electronic screen. There could be downsides to this change because it is believed by health specialists that watching an electronic screen for a prolonged period of time damages eyesight. Despite the health risk, I would still have to disagree with anyone who believes the invention of the electronic book is a bad thing.
My reasoning behind this belief is that the Ipad can give the user access to a never ending library of literary texts of all kinds that beforehand would be almost impossible to imagine. A massive restructuring of how information and literature travels has just recently occurred and it needs to be embraced by all that value the importance of the written word. This restructuring has allowed publishers of all types of texts spread their works at a much quicker pace. Recently published books or articles can be read instantaneously almost anywhere in the world with just the click of a button. If a volcano erupts halfway across the world, I would still hear about it the very day of its occurrence. Sooner or later, I would probably hear about the volcano within just an hour of the eruption. Information could potentially travel faster than the speed of light one day. That may be a bit of an exaggeration but the metaphor is important. The electronic world does not have to be looked upon as shameful by those that lived in less technologically advanced societies. It should be looked upon with the same exuberance as an event like the American Revolution. The electronic “revolution” is more of a blessing than a curse.
Why should the Ipad be viewed as crime to the literary community? The user is reading the same books that have impacted history but only by different means than our ancestors. We don’t have to cut down trees for the purpose of making paper! If only the same idea could apply to wood being used as a means for warmth or shelter. Publishing companies no longer have to pay companies around the world to cut down trees in the wilderness. Isn’t that such a great idea? It would be a sin to not take this opportunity to stop the destruction of trees because of the facts that we now know of the benefits that trees have on our environment.
Sven Birkets would argue that the readers experience would change in a negative way with the switch to electronic texts. His arguments are valid as they do raise some serious questions but those questions have answers. I grew up learning to love the feel of a book; specifically the physical characteristics of the book itself. Birkets as well as myself have grown to become attached to that feeling. I myself love opening up a book that I have had a decade long relationship with. The Fellowship of the Ring can brighten my mood anytime anywhere because I have so many fond memories of being absorbed into those same pages. It’s traveled to different countries with me as if the book was my best friend. The next generation might lose that feeling but that doesn’t mean the feeling that they get from reading an electronic text would have a lesser impact on their life. I notice a significant change in feel when I switch from reading a book on my Kindle to a paperback but it’s not a bad change at all. It’s just a change in surfacing of the written word. If he applies his idea of hating all electronic media to the Ipad, then he would be saying the spread of knowledge and information around the world is not something he values as important. To give a community of poor people access to a large library of reading materials would be an expensive and challenging task. Hundreds or even thousands of books would have to be loaded onto airplanes or ships for transport which means that a lot of resources would be required. With the electronic book, this endeavor could become a common practice that involves much less time and effort. Books cost less in their electronic form because fewer resources are put into the creation of the book. Maybe that could be viewed as a bad thing because royalties for authors would initially go down but I would argue that in the future the royalties would level out in response to an overall increase in readers.
All books, all sizes, ten dollars. Newspapers and magazines; one hundred percent free. Advertisements will employ adequately. No need to charge the one dollar per copy to cover the publishing costs because there would virtually be none. The road by which the word travels is no longer one hundred miles long uphill. The words can just teleport to the end of the road in a split second. I wish my life could be that easy.
