The Merge of Internet and Book

In Chapter 6 of The Shallows, Carr makes some strong points about technology that I agree with.  Carr gives credit to books and the internet, as both really good technological advances.  I enjoyed reading this chapter because Carr did not bash on the internet’s cons completely, he acknowledged the internet’s pros.  Carr also talks about how the internet merged with the book in the invention of the Kindle, which to some is a bad idea.  He starts off by saying that the book is a technology that has lasted even beyond the internet.  "A long sequence of printed pages assembled between a pair of stiff covers has proven to be a remarkably robust technology, remaining useful and popular for more than half a millennium (Carr 99)."  I agree with Carr in saying this, because books have stayed as a very popular form of media in gathering information and enjoying fictional and non-fictional stories.  Carr goes on to say that books are very convenient.  When you read a book, put it down, and pick it back up, nothing has changed.  He also says that bringing a book to the beach is easier and less stressful than bringing a laptop or kindle to the beach, technologies that would be damaged by sand, sun, and water. 

However electronic technology has converted the simple book into an electronic devise as well.  The Kindle, is a reading machine that has a screen, rather than pages.  It also connects to the internet.  The once simple book that had only pages of text has turned into a machine that lets you download any book and surf the web.  I think that the Kindle distracts people because of its technological advances over a paperback book.  Carr goes on to say that, “As soon as you inject a book with links and connect it to the Web-as soon as you “extend” and “enhance” it and make it “dynamic”- you chance what it is and you change, as well, the experience of reading it.  An e-book is no more a book than an online newspaper is a newspaper (Carr 103).”  I agree with this statement because the experience of reading a paperback book is much different than reading a book on a Kindle.  Reading a paperback book allows you to only focus on the text and the story.  Reading a Kindle allows you to read the book but also explore the internet and become distracted.  Steven Johnson, an author, goes on to say, “the book’s migration to the digital realm would not be a simple matter of trading ink for pixels, but would likely change the way we read, write, and sell books in profound ways.  I fear that one of the great joys of book reading- the total immersion in another world, or in the world of the author’s ideas-will be comprised.  We all may read books the way we increasingly read magazines and newspapers: a little bit here, a little bit there (Johnson 103).”  I am afraid that Carr and Johnson may be right with their thoughts.  Maybe the way people read books and experience books will change due to the change from paper to a screen.  Maybe it has already changed?

                                                                                                                       Michelle Salvati