I personally found the ending paragraphs of Chapter 6 of The Shallows to be very profound and thought provoking. The entire chapter addresses the issue about what is to become of the book in our now Internet and multi-tasking obsessed society. I really find this topic interesting because I myself love to read books; there is something really special to me about being able to curl up on a couch with a blanket and read a novel. I often find that I am completely absorbed and I lose track of time while getting to know the characters and the plot of the story. It also seemed really intriguing to me when Carr discusses the introduction of the e-book. This aspect was especially interesting to me because I am currently reading the e-book version of The Shallows on the Kindle. Carr talks about how the Kindle allows for a more distracted read because of the hyperlinks and wireless internet availability-- I however find that if I am truly interested in what I am reading I won't even notice the hyperlinks, and if I do I won't have the desire to click on them and navigate away from the text. I have read quite a few books on the Kindle, and if I am interested in what I am reading I have to problem staying focused and in retrospect if I am reading an actual book that I find especially boring I will have a hard time focusing and staying connected with that version of the text.
My questions for you are:
Do you believe that it is the medium of a text that influences how you are reading or the actual content of the text itself?
Do you think that the hyperlinks are distracting in a negative way or could they also be seen as positive in the way that they allow for a larger field of knowledge and opinions and real life connections to the text?
Do you believe that books will become "momentos of how reading used to be" or do you think they will continue in popularity as this same negative forecast has been predicted for them in the past?
I do not feel that it is the medium of the text that is influencing how someone reads, I agree with you in that it has to do a lot with the person reading's interest in it. I can easily get distracted with a paper book in my hand, if I find the material boring or hard to get into. Regardless of what medium you are using, if you are having a hard time connecting with it, you are going to find a distraction.
ReplyDeleteI think the hyperlinks are a great idea - especially for those people like my dad who always have a dictionary on hand while they read to look up words they don't know. It actually takes him out of the book he has gotten into because of the amount of time it takes for him to page through a dictionary for a definition. If he could just click on a word he was unsure of, and have the definition pop up, it would save him the time of looking it up in a dictionary, and probably allow him to stay somewhat involved in what he is reading. If that makes sense?
I don’t think the forms of media affect my reading. While I personally don’t have an e-book, I usually read news, columns, and books online. Reading online is one of my rituals. I agree with the idea that I choose what to read not by the form of media, but by the contents. I tend not to use the hyperlinks since jumping from page to page cuts out my concentration. But I do think they are handy so that after reading the whole text, I use them to seek other relating texts which I’m likely to be interested in. I think books would not disappear even if it changes the forms. Reading is one of the essential ways to gain knowledge and enhance our own thoughts. In the near future, I believe e-books will gain popularity much more than paper books because of their convenience. Yet I also know there are many fans of paper books who like the touch of papers and who like to write a note directly on a book. So although I don’t think paper books or books in general would fade away completely, the popularity would vary depending on the needs.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that the medium of the text in which you read it has a drastic affect on what you get out of it, or at least what I get out of it. In my case, I have a much harder time reading things online than if I were to read something in a book or text book. I find that if I have my reading material in my hands I will be less distracted and more likely to retain what I read. If I were to read something online, I tend to become more distracted because I have more access to different things other than just what I am reading.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the hyperlinks, I feel they are neutral. I think they are very useful to people who need to know what a certain word means or needs more of an explaination of what is going on. They can also be a distraction because they do take you away from what you are reading. It is someone an outlet for getting side tracked.
As far as books becoming “mementos,” I feel it will be a very long time before this even happens, if it ever does. I think people like having an actually book in their hand instead of a computer screen. I know I would choose a book over the internet in a heartbeat, although I know many that would disagree. I know the internet and new technologies, such as the Kindle will become more and more popular, but books will still be here for a very long time. There is something classic about them, that they will be around for years to come.
I think that the medium used for reading CAN have an effect, but it doesn't necessarily have to. Like you mentioned in your question, if there is something that I am truly interested in reading, I will be absorbed in the text and won't distract myself from clicking hyperlinks or googling reference materials. However, if my interest in a subject is waning, and I am reading on a medium that is connected to other sources of information, I do find it hard to remain focused on the task at hand, and can spiral away from my initial intent for reading something. At the same time, if I am reading a book that I am not entirely interested in, I can find distractions outside of the book. Distractions from reading a certain type of text are not only caused by "connected" mediums, although they can certainly facilitate the distractions.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of hyperlinks embedded within online texts, I find them very distracting. I definitely resonated with the idea presented by Carr about how hyperlinks cause your brain to enact a "decision-making" process, where you decide whether or not you want to click the link, and that decision process takes away from the cognitive power you have available for reading the text right in front of you. However, I do like when there are links to similar articles at the bottom of online articles, so I can jump to other articles surrounding the same topic, without interfering with the initial text I was trying to read.
Naturally, whether or not the medium of a text affects the reader will vary from person to person, though I personally do not feel that it does. For me, the medium of the text is insignificant next to the subject of the text. If what I am reading is interesting, I could care less whether it is online or in a book, as I'm going read it with the same enthusiasm. Likewise, if it's a topic I find boring, it doesn't matter what medium it's in, it's still boring and is going to lose my attention.
ReplyDeleteI am also a large fan of including hyperlinks within readings. While they can be distracting, I feel that this is a good distraction for those that want it. First and foremost, it should be remembered: Only those that want to use the hyperlinks actually have to use them. Secondly, I am a person who loves to learn new things. As such, I would willingly accept links to add to my knowledge of whatever it is I am reading about, especially if it's a topic I'm interested in. Yet, if I didn't want to distract myself from the text, I wouldn't. There is still a choice.
Lastly, in regard to books, I do believe they will eventually fade away, though not for quite a bit. Being that books are made from paper and must be printed, they naturally will not last forever and have a cost associated with producing them. Thus, it logically follows that books will eventually be replaced by their digital counterparts. As for when it happens, I feel it will happen in the lifetime of one of the next generations. Our generation grew up with books, and likely would not be able to fully part with them. Future generations, on the other hand, will likely grow up with online readings and e-books instead, and as such will have no such attachment to physical books.
I think that naturally one is more absorbed in a book. The main difference in a book versus the Internet is that it is TANGIBLE. Now granted so is a computer, but if we were to be reading an ebook we cannot get that same feel of "curling up on a couch with a blanket" because it is just simply not a book. Its a computer with words on the screen that are in a book. Also, the internet allows the mind to wander when you are reading an ebook on it because there are so many other avenues you could take while reading your ebook. Even if you dont decide to stray from your ebook, the point is that if you wanted to, it would be effortless to just quickly check your email or facbook. With a book, you have to get up off the couch and then go start up your computer and leave the comfy blanket and couch you were just on; which is obviously less likely to happen so the thought rarely crosses your mind. More than likely, if you do think of doing that while reading a book you will tell yourself, "ill just finish this chapter and then be done and then ill go check it", as opposed to "oh i want to check my email quick then ill get right back to reading" when youre on a computer. In one case you are very engaged in the reading, in the other you are not.
ReplyDeleteHyperlinks seem to be as helpful as the site they are on. Sites with less random advertising may have helpful links while sites with more can involve large amounts of unwanted material and lag time. In any case I do not find them any more distracting.
ReplyDeleteThe plasticity of our minds, as we keep bringing up in class, seems to be the biggest issue at hand with the subject of hyperlinks and the media. The way we prefer to comprehend information is in a transmedia environment where we confront separate/similar things in the mediums that we use for interaction with our immediate social crowd or with our larger domestic/global group. The hyperlinks, like this stop start visually searching style of consumption mentioned above, give us the power to stop the conversation in case we are out of the know on a subject, vertically and horizontally expanding our understanding of the subject. do i think that this is undoing the print media environment, whose deep seated texts often cause out-of-the-rhetoric readers to experience less of their literature? Yes. Do i think that this is causing our brain patterns to fall into disjointed stop start stop start rhythms? Yes.
ReplyDeleteAt its root, in this argument i see the term convenience taking control. Why sit down and study over the domestic issues of Greece before reading the Iliad, when i can click on a hyperlink that is going to tell me all i need to know in a wiki-sized text page? Hyperlinks are making the textual experience easier, and for many boosting immediate knowledge. However, I don't know enough about the meld between recent memory and permanent memory to know if this process is going to be worth while for the brain, or leave us horridly disconnected with the culture that has brought us to this point in history.
I think that no matter what books will be around. They have been in our society for to long and have been passed down from generation to generation to be forgotten. At some point they may fail to be the dominant medium for reading, but I think that it is impossible to write them out of the equation.
ReplyDeleteI believe that, in part, it is the medium of the text that effects how someone reads a work. When reading a regular book it is easier to see and stay focused; there are not a million new tabs that one can click on to take them far away from their reading. In addition reading on anything but paper makes me tired and gives me migraines. At the same time, if the work is not compelling enough, I lose interest no matter what medium is providing it. It may be that in the future the, if we continue down the technological road that we're on, the human body will adjust and there will be no problem with reading on computer or whatever have you.
The hyperlinks are a wonderful idea if I am doing some form of research. But if I am trying to concentrate, I'm already a flighty person to begin with, I find that they are distracting and not needed.
I don't think books can ever be replaced. e books and Kindles are surely becoming more prevalent, yet they aren't the same as reading a book. However, I know many people that say that they like reading on a Kindle or an Ipod better than reading a book. They enjoy having the hyperlinks or a definition to a word just in the click of a button. I think that this also makes reading more than just reading. It brings about so many new and exciting possibilities. Personally I find reading a book boring, so I don't find any of this too much a distraction, but more of an enjoyable addition to the reading process.
ReplyDeleteWhether it is a book, online article, magazine, or some other medium, the key factor in sustaining my attention is the text embedded within the medium. If I lack a strong interest in the content, I will be much more apt to stray away, breaking up the reading time. However, if my personal interests are met, I can sit and read for hours.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I am a huge critic of hyperlinks; however, I can see how they may be more beneficial to individuals who, despite their interest in the text, cannot sustain reading from a single source for an extended period of time.
Regarding books, I think there is something to be said about the leisure of being able to pick up a tangible book, physically turn a page once it has been read, and if you’re like me, take notes in the margins to refer back to at a later time. Although I realize the added ease of being able to find research articles and topics of lesser interest online, I do not think the book is going anywhere. The Harry Potter Series and Twilight Saga have both given strong evidence of this with combined book sales of nearly 450 million. Interest is key.