I don’t think I’m a Luddite. I embrace most technologies as soon as they come onto the scene. I own a first generation Kindle, and though it hasn’t come close to replacing print books in my house, I use it quite often and appreciate its conveniences. In fact, it’s the only thing keeping me from the iPad; it somehow seems a bit extravagant to own both, despite the iPad’s numerous additional capabilities.
And yet, the knowledge that print books are going the way of the dinosaur fills me with sadness, but not for the typical reasons. Sure, I like to hold a book in my hand as much as the next person, but I’ve found that the more the e-readers improve, the less I’m worried about losing the tactile experience of the print book. And as a writer, I’m thrilled by the sight of my novels on a bookstore shelf, but if e-books are the future of publishing, I’m happy to take a ride on the time machine. Where readers go, I will follow.
No, it’s something else, and it only occurred to me a few weeks ago after school had let out and my kids were hanging around the house more.
With e-books, a reader’s “library” is contained on one small device. Books, magazines, newspapers – you name it – are condensed and a person doesn’t even access them, doesn’t even notice their existence, until he turns on that device.
But with print, the reading material might be on a bookshelf, or it might be scattered around a house. The morning newspaper on the kitchen table, the magazines on the coffee table, the books—well, at my house, the books are everywhere. And when books are everywhere, there’s a much greater chance that my kids will pick them up and read them. Same for newspapers and magazines. My girls, eighteen and fifteen, have always been avid readers, and I believe they always will be. But I’m convinced the breadth of their reading expands because of the reading materials they find lying around the house. For example, that article in Newsweek I want my daughters to read – the one about why the world still needs feminism? If I suggest it, the suggestion will most likely be ignored. After all, I’m their mom. What do I know? Yet if they happen to be paging through the magazine on their own and come across the article, they’ll read it. Same goes for books. If I think my girls will enjoy a particular novel, I don’t suggest it. My suggestion will most likely be ignored in the same way they ignore my request to clean their rooms or take out the trash. Instead, I simply leave the novel on a table in our family room. There’s a good chance that one day they’ll pick it up, read the jacket cover, skim a few pages, and bingo – they’ll be hooked.
I wonder, will that same spontaneous reading happen when e-reading is the norm and not the exception? Or will the “accidental” reader, like the print book, become a thing of the past?
Don’t know if I totally agree with the “accidental reader” idea. Having books everywhere all your life doesn’t it become like noticing the trees in forest? I tend to think the “accidental reader” exists more on the web. After all, I would never had read your blog if I had not seen a link to it at Crimespot.net. The Newsweek article you mention, is it on the web? I know Time magazine is available on Kindle, is Newsweek? Is there anything more important today to a book’s success than word of mouth on the web?
Hi Michael, thanks for the comment. I understand your point, but I suppose my concern is that because of all the algorithms built into the online experience, a reader doesn’t “stumble” so much upon new material, but is “led” to it, based upon his or her past habits. The result: the reader tends to read the same types of material. I think there’s a distinct possibility that the breadth of material a person is exposed to will shrink. I think about how Amazon keeps trying to suggest books for me based upon other books I’ve purchased, and they all tend to be in the same genre of the last purchase I made. Yet my reading tastes vary widely (and I’m not sure they would had I grown up online).
You can argue, of course, that I’m also leading my kids to certain types of materials when I leave them around the house. But my motive isn’t commercial; it’s to expose them to a wider world. I am certain my girls wouldn’t come across a Newsweek article online, not now, at their age. The sites a teenage girl likes to frequent probably won’t be the sites that link to a Newsweek article.
Thanks again for commenting! It’s exciting to be living in a time of so many technological advances, and it will be interesting, to say the least, to see how it all develops and affects our culture.