http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-losowsky/ebooks-future-publishing-print_b_1370830.html?view=print&comm_ref=false
Step one: read the article from the online newspaper
Step two: think think think
Step three: COMMENT on this blog 200-250 words on what YOU think will be the future of reading
From my own experience I can say that today people started reading less. If I compare my parents to my classmates, my parents used to read much more when they were our age. I think that is is mostly because of the development of the technology, now kids have all kinds of TV channels, video games and online communication, so they get all that experience that our parents used to get from the books, some where else. Today most teenagers would choose to watch a movie instead of reading the same book, a movies makes it much easier to intake information, g in my opinion it a "lazy" way. Instead of letting your brane come up with images for the story while you read it, we let the movie tell us what they're suppose to be, that majorly effects a certain developments of imagination. In my opinion, sadly, people are not going to start reading more in the future, and the creators of books will have to put much more effort into selling those book to the younger generations. Even though this is probably not something we would like to happened, it is the truth, but we as the "younger generation" should try and fight it.
ReplyDeleteThis article is very interesting, as it examines the same topic from different sides. And it is really quite hard to answer whether the ebooks or normal books will be the most popular in the future. As for me, I don't really like reading books and "electronic ones" are more common to me, due to the "technological 21th century". I mean that, even if i do not like reading books, I find interesting and prefer to look into the screen on the text then into the paper.
ReplyDeleteHowever, on the other side, there are other people that totally disagree with my opinion. For example, my mum never would give up with the normal, paper books. When I ask her why, she tells me that ebooks will never substitute paper books, because when you read books you receive pleasure not only from reading, but also from touching and feeling the book.
Finally, I think that ebooks will never substitute normal books, because readers (if they will be reading on electronic book) will be missing the real feeling and the presence of the book. Of course, there will be people who will prefer electronic ebooks as they are "light, thin and has many advantages against normal books", but the amount of those people will be much smaller comparing to the normal book readers.
Personally I think that in future amount of printed books will be very limited and they will be very expensive. More and more books every year are produced in a pdf format and a good example of that is Encyclopedia "Britannica". The first edition of the encyclopedia of this publishing house was in 1768. However since this year they are not going to publish it anymore, because enow people can just upload it on their device and that is it. of course, it is more convenient and more quickly, but what about the times when you bought a new book, when you can feel it with your fingers, when you can smell its pages and feel the smell of ink?
ReplyDeleteI am 100% sure that in future each year more publishing houses will stop selling printed books, and start working on e-books, but I hope that real lovers of the old hard copies of the books will remain. as books are a huge part of the history.
i also think that in future less people will read as now at the web pages you can find whatever you want about any book. the culture of reading is disappearing. young generations spend a lot of time in social networks, watching TV ans\d computer games. they simply do not have enough time to read and develop themselves. I am really sorry to say that, but it is an absolutely true.
In future people will be reading, but some people will stop reading printed versions of the books. It is now easier to download book. We don’t have to carry it around school; we can have it on the i-pad, phone, and laptop, whatever on what. In the future people will stop buying books. Also fewer books will be printed. It is not profitable anymore to print a book. Our generation doesn’t appreciate printed version of books, as the older generations. I believe that the number of books printed will decrease; people will prefer reading books on the screens. I believe that nothing can replace printed version of the book. I agree that it is better to have textbooks on your laptop so you don’t have to take many, heavy books to school, but what about reading for own pleasure. Books have specific smell, and I really like reading “normal” version of book. I am aware of that one day we might not have many books around. In the future textbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries will not be printed anymore. People don’t buy dictionaries and encyclopedias anymore, and in the future the situation will be even worse. I still believe that some people will buy books, because there are still people who enjoy reading “normal” versions of books, because computer will never replace a book.
ReplyDeletePersonally I see books everyday and everywhere, but also I see all the multifunctional electronic devices.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to predict what will be the future of reading. Even now some of my classmates don't want reading books to be part of their lives. They prefer reading jokes and funny thoughts of their friends on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Nevertheless, there are also classmates who enjoy reading books and I'm one of them.
I prefer using the e-books to read and I don't really care how what I read is presented: on screen or on paper. Each member of my family has personal e-book, but for example my mom still buys books and gets more pleasure from reading normal books as she says. I think that this is the case because many people think that every book has it's own soul, while e-book doesn't.
My personal opinion is that eventually all people will chose e-books to read because the society follows the development. Already now e-books have additional features that allow people for example to watch videos and play games, not only read. People always tend to chose one object that has five functions than five objects with one function each because that's logical. The multi functionality is the future of our generation. I think that unfortunately in future people will forget how to hold the books.
Indeed technology became something that makes complicating things a lot simpler. But one day, because of technology, book’s won’t be sold in stores anymore, but instead, we will have novel’s will be written and published electronically, simply because its easier for publishers to be able to publish books through the internet. Because of this a lot of the common things we do now, such as reading books, will become virtual, and people will have to purchase books online onto their e-book reader to be able to read that novel. A lot of people will in fact do this because it’s also easier for them to do that. Instead of going to a bookstore and buying each books separately, people already can hold thousands of books on a device that is light and portable, and is easy to use. Not only that, e-book readers also have special functionalities that allow people to have a better, and easier experience, by being able set bookmarks in certain areas, look up unknown words on the dictionary straight through an e-book etc.
ReplyDeleteNot only will companies such as amazon will take more advantage of making it easier for readers to read their books, but they will do it also for money. When the day will come when there won’t be anymore bookstores, imagine how much money amazon will be making by selling books, simply because people won’t be able to get books anywhere.
Of course not everyone will be happy with this idea of having virtual books, and these people will most likely be the one’s that having been reading books for a while. These people tend to appreciate the way books are made, and despite the fact that they know that reading won’t be as easy as it will be for most readers in the future, they will appreciate novels the way they have been written for the past several centuries.
I guess the future of reading belongs to new technologies described in the article above. First of all, it's very comfortable to use it, because it has appropriate font and you don't need to carry heavy books. Then it's cheap and almost everyone can afford it. Moreover, such programs and websites like Coliloquy or Fluid can give to the reader a great opportunity to find faster what he might looking for. However, there are some people who can’t live without “real books”, which you can touch and even smell. For that reason, I truly believe that books that we have now will still exist. Frankly speaking, I’m the one who prefer reading “real books” instead of online. Of course, I read on computer also, cause it’s much more comfortable, but I can’t live without literature that I can hold in hands and turn the pages.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, I’d like to say, that in my opinion the future of reading will be mostly based on the e-books. Not only because they have more advantages than disadvantages, but also because our world is developing and the major part of our society appreciate new technology that appears from day to day.
Seb G
ReplyDeleteThere are already not many kinds who read books. Not a long time ago I was waiting for my parents outside and I saw some 4th or 5th graders. They were having fun and talking about some things as I used to do when I was at their age. Though, they were a bit different. They were talking about technology most of the time. They talked about games, new play platforms and getting games for free from the internet. When I was at their age, I and my friends were talking about superheroes, we were reading commixes. I didn’t like to read but some of my friends did. The point is that we were not so dependent on technology. We played different games like hide and sick, building tree houses and riding on the bicycle like on the motor bike. Those kids which I met didn’t do that. They probably even didn’t try because they have computer game. And you may ask how computer games are related to books. They are much related. If you are used to use technology when you are a child you probably won’t reject it when you will grow up. Of course there are some people who do the opposite things to what others do but for majority, books will become an old fashion way to read.
I hate to say it but the future of reading will be decreasing a lot especially with the printed copies. Something we have to understand is that technology most of us truly into and cant seem to use anything else so them reading a printed book or reading a book in general is in Jeopardy.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of reading will be a whole different level meaning that they way and what we read will be much different because our human race is developing and will probably will continue to develop. Even today you can see how much less people go to the library and check out the book like in the past. What you do now is go on technology and read on the internet. I mean thats fine but the concept is much different. I cant elaborate how important reading is and how much we need it to help us become better students of life. So yes im scared about our future in reading even though i dont read as much as i should. But i always attempt to read and i hope everyone will help the future of reading which in fact unfortunately is in jeopardy. People are reading fewer books and fewer people are reading books.
E-book readers aren't going to make non-book readers want to read books. I am truly sorry Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but the truth is the Kindle and Nook are not going to making reading books cool they are simply to provide an alternative for people who already enjoy reading books, and mostly for those who also love having the latest technology. So whatever it is to save the future of reading will have to do something to save it because we need it weather its on technology or printed read!!!
I do think that books still have future. They will never be replaced by electronic book. As for me, despite that fact that book are heavy, I prefer them just because they make better atmosphere of reading.
ReplyDeleteWhat are books? What are they for? Is there a resons behid every story? Why are they written? These are all examples of questions that we ask ourselves, when we read. For me every book carries some kind of information, some kind of wiseness which otherwise I will have to serach for in everyday life, the problems that I come across with. A good example of what is a great book for me, I would be naming Moem «The Moon and Sixpence» or a story of O. Henri «The Gift Of The Magi». This is a great story that reveals a lot of live question that people might come across with. I think the most important of the story is that you can learn something of it, something that is hidden in the plot, shown through the actions of different characters. This is what we can see in ussual books, but can not vitness something like that in the books, where a story reads you.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, isn't it is interesting to create your own story with in the boundaries of the book, it is like you being the narrator, it is something like freedom, but if you look at this more closely, you realize that there is no freedom at all. I think that it could be fun at some point to have books like that, but I think they will at some point become only entertainment and not a part of education. I think by creating something like this type of books will eventually become a new type of literature only in case if it will stay literature and not become just another type of art. The most interesting part about it is that we will never find out untill we actually try and see how all of it work out.
This article is very interesting – it shows that the future is already happening today. Who would imagine just 50 years ago that a person would be able to change the plot of the story with just one click? What about a book, which can have hundreds of books in it? I think that in 40 or 50 years a reader would be able to feel the atmosphere of the book because he will just… be inside the book, see the characters, events and different occasions of the book. Or, possibly, even participate in it. In some science—fictional story, which I’ve read looong ago, people could travel inside the book, interact with all the characters and make decisions that would cause the storyline to make a U-turn. So why isn’t this possible to do in real life? I believe people will have much better technologies in 20-years’ time, so why can’t we invent something like that?
ReplyDeleteI think that the ideas from the article are interesting and they open a whole new chapter in reading although in my opinion I don’t really think that it will influence reading that much. For me at a certain point deciding upon the character’s fate would get boring because then it will become more of my creation than the author’s, and we read books because other people are able to pass on these amazing ideas that we are incapable of coming up with on our own. People use more e-books because technology is progressing, it is exactly the same as when paper had been invented and used instead of papyrus. I personally do not like reading e-copies because I already have to work a lot on a computer and therefore it causes me vision problems. We observe such a fast growth of electronics but I think that at a certain point it will reach a pick and from then on, the number of eBooks and classical books will be at equilibrium. This process might be affected by fashion for example printed book are going to become fashionable. What is certain is that books are never going to disappear and I also think that they are not going to be completely replaced by electronics because you can never substitute the smell and touch of paper with a cold, electronic screen.
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