e-books vs. old fashioned paperbacks

One of the many things Carr uses to compare to the internet is books. On page 99 of The Shallows, Carr states “book publishers have suffered some losses of business as reading has shifted from the printed page to the screen, but the form of the book itself hasn’t changed much.” As many people commonly know, Carr points out many times in his book the internet is overpowering books, and becoming the more popular way of reading. I agree very much with him that the internet is the new popular way to read instead of an old fashion book.

     Over the years, digital books have become more popular than old fashion paperback books. They allow a person to have hundreds of books downloaded on it and don’t take up a lot of space as many books together do. Electronic devices allow a person to magnify the words to read the pages at however big needed. These devices also have their own background light that can be set at whatever tone the person wants. Dim in the sunlight, or bring in the dark. The bigger font and extra light feature allow a person to read in many more conditions that just a normal book would. Electronic books have created functions to click through pages easily, add bookmarks, highlight text, and take side notes too. Like an iPod, e-books and nooks can also hold a library of music. This is beneficial for if people like to play music while they read. Now in today’s society, e-books have grown very popular and are selling at a much faster pace than paperback books. A friend of mine who loves to read got a nook to hold all of her favorite books on one system. She finds it easy to just buy a book online and buy more books when she wants. My other friend however still likes having an actual book in front of her to hold and read. So while the internet is taking place of many simple items, it all depends on the person, and what their preference is towards reading.

     As he mentions also though, a book has some qualities a computer will never have. One advantage the book has over electronic devices is you don’t have to charge it or worry about a battery running out. Books are easy to take on the go for this reason. He mentions people can take books to the beach not worrying about getting it sandy or water on it. Take a book to bed and not worry about it dropping on the floor during the night breaking or lying on it. Put a book down and pick up right off where you left reading last time. Lastly how people just enjoy sitting down and holding an actual book. Being able to flip through the pages, take side notes, highlight quotes, get the author to autograph the book, lend the book to a friend, and many more little neat things about books. These ideas Carr mentions I also agree with about the old fashioned book.

-       Jacque Rideout