Internet and Paper-Back Books

Recently I came across a quote by Marshall McLuhan, someone who was previously mentioned in Carr’s The Shallows. He had said that “a new medium is never an addition to an old one, nor does it leave the old one in peace. It never ceases to oppress the older media until it finds new shapes and positions for them.” After reading this on my phone, I was able to make a connection between what he had said, and what I read in Chapter 6 of Carr’s book. 

            In Chapter 6, Carr began by mentioning some of the reasons why people may like books better. He said that you “can put it down on a table, open to the page you’re reading, and when you pick it up a few days later it will be exactly as you left it,” (Carr 99). Yes, books have some qualities about them that computers don’t have. When Carr stated that lit screens could increase eye fatigue, he was absolutely correct. But there are some things that books don’t have, such as the ability to log online. So thankfully digital readers have been mass-producing. I say ‘thankfully’ not because reading pages in books is a bad thing, but because in todays society, the Internet, computers, touch screen phones, and other gadgets are what we have adapted to. Its what we know to use the best, and when it comes to leisurely time, and searching for information, they are the first things we look to. So digital readers are what I believe, just another advance in technology. Not only does this have an effect on us readers, but also in a broader sense we can see that the Internet is effecting how we read and how we may even write. Styles always change, and Carr brought up a good point about it. He said, “some of the changes in the way books are written and presented will be dramatic,” (Carr 105). He’s right.  As our language develops more and more, writers apply it to their work. As styles change, the way writers write also change. It’s a constant advance that we can’t stop because the Internet gives us so much room for improvement. Without the Internet, digital readers such as the Kindle wouldn’t have existed. Think of the difference that one device has made, and where we would’ve been without it. It gives readers a chance to read the text they want to read and incorporate the Internet when needed. This is why it comes to no surprise that “many observers believe its only a matter of time before social-networking functions are incorporated into digital readers, turning reading into something like a team sport,” (Carr 106). And this may not be a bad thing. It would be able to give us the opportunity to discuss what we are reading and have a better understanding if something wasn’t clear. So all that comes to my mind is, what potential do digital readers hold? And apart from how it has already affected us, what more can it do?

- Michelle Krupnik