The kindle is a new fascination among readers because it is one compact device that holds many books. Also, it has the power to enable the user to click on and follow hyperlinks. These hyperlinks lead to definitions for words or other articles. I feel that these hyperlinks are nothing but helpful to the reader. If the reader does not understand something, they can simply click on the hyperlink and be led to a place where they could find out what they need. If they do not need to understand anything, and is compelled by what they are reading, I see no reason that the reader would want to interrupt their activity to click on a hyperlink. It is true that this medium allows the user to distract themselves if necessary, but the choice is a huge part of the reason it is a concern. The reader must choose to stop what they are doing to click a hyperlink, but what would interest the reader in doing so if they are enjoying themselves reading their book.
The paper community is worried its era of dominance has come to an end. Very soon it will. Because most media are rushing to an electronic format rather than physical, all paper materials will cease to exist due to the convenience of electronic media. Why should a user buy 10 physical books from a store, while they can go online and download it to their kindle for a cheaper price? Physical books still have some years left in their time of rule, but their sales will decrease as the number of downloads increase. They will indeed be missed, but only to be replaced by something more convenient and cost effective.
I agree that the idea of a Kindle is quite fascinating. It has internet and 3G now. It is also much easier to travel with a Kindle than seven paper back books. My dad has a kindle and I use it often, I would much rather hold the physical book though.
ReplyDeleteI find the ability to click on the links to look up information while reading is extremely beneficial while doing reading for school. When reading for pleasure this aspect of the kindle doesn't have much purpose. I think it is even a bit annoying when I accidentally click on it while I'm reading a book.
I don't think it will ever completely take over and knock out use of books though. I think people generally see the initial price of $189 and don't find it necessary to pay this money for a Kindle when it is possible to buy books for on $5. In the long run a Kindle is cheaper in the sense that once you spend that $189 reading material can cost as low as $.89. People will always love to be able to crawl up with a book, hold it in their hands and be able to turn the pages. To some avid readers these aspects of a book are important and the Kindle will never be able to be have those functions.
I think what Carr is saying has less to do with actually clicking on hyperlinks, and more to do with the mental processes that are engaged when the reader comes across them. His argument is that when we see hyperlinks, our train of thought is interrupted as we decide whether or not to click on these links. This interruption distracts our minds, if only for a moment, from absorbing the material we are reading. He even goes so far as to claim that it is as interruptive as reading Scripta Continua would be. I can see what he is saying, but I disagree with his assessment. Maybe this is the case in his personal experience, but as a child of the internet and someone who reads wikipedia articles for fun, I've become totally used to seeing these links everywhere, and don't ever think about whether or not to click them. When I come across something I want to know more about then I might open the link in another tab and finish the article I'm currently reading (unless I need to read the other one for a more complete understanding of the first one), but this has become so fluid and natural that I don't feel it interrupts me at all. It's not the hyperlink itself that causes interruptions, it is hyperlinks to things that I'm interested that do, and by visiting those links I can get a more complete picture of whatever it is I'm trying to understand because the information is right there for me to pick up at my leisure.
ReplyDeletePlus, the Kindle doesn't really have hyperlinks in the sense that websites do, they just pull up a definition. Also, the words aren't highlighted, so its not distracting in that sense, the function of bringing up a definition is there. I can't see how he would argue that it is any more distracting than having to look up a word in a dictionary would be -- in fact, it's probably less distracting because you can look up the word immediately without doing any digging, and then continue reading right away.
ReplyDelete