What is the Future of Reading?

In 1985, when I moved into my first apartment, my first order of business was to subscribe to The New York Times. My Sunday ritual was comforting; make a pot of coffee and relax while reading the Times from cover to cover. I saved the crossword for my hour-long commute into the city each day.  It was a ritual carried over from growing up in my family of eight. My six siblings and I raced each other to the front porch each Sunday to get first shot at the papers. We shared the different sections, read comics aloud and discussed the articles and gossip. A few hours later our dad swore like a sailor because the family room was a mess of newspaper sections that he would have to put back together, in order, before enjoying the paper himself.

As I became older and busier, I found myself with less time to read the Sunday paper. Eventually they piled up for weeks, unread. Finally, with much reluctance, I canceled my subscriptions and began reading the news online. Ditto magazines, which are fighting with books for my attention during those precious couple of hours I have to relax at the end of the day. Meanwhile, I have cases of books in my garage, unpacked since our move here eight years ago. I also have stacks and stacks of books in our bedroom. Our house is too small for bookshelves and too crowded for stacks of books.

Thanks to the Internet and electronic or digital readers such as the Kindle, all our books and subscriptions are available to us in one easy to hold tablet. There’s no pile of magazines in the bathroom, and the family room end table isn’t stacked high with books. Wireless reading devices are easy to take on planes and commutes and aren’t as heavy or cumbersome as a Sunday paper or Stephen King novel.

This all has me thinking about the future of reading….

Books v. Internet

Yesterday, on Twitter and at the Freelance Writing Jobs Facebook Group, I asked: “If you had to choose between books or the Internet which would win?” The answer, hands down, was books.

This surprised me.

In our hypothetical world, I think “books” is the easy answer. If faced with this dilemma in real life, it’s more complicated. For example, books aren’t our livelihood.  As a writer, blogger and social media consultant, there’s no question about what I’d choose. I can’t go to Starbucks or the library every time I want to work. I can do some work offline, but only some. Asking me to give up an Internet connection is basically telling me to go back to an office job.

Giving Up Books & Magazines v. Giving Up Reading

Truthfully? Many of us don’t subscribe to magazines and newspapers anymore because it’s cheaper and easier to get our news online. We don’t have to deal with wrapping up our recycling or the clutter left behind by periodicals. While I do have some treasured volumes, it’s not so difficult for me to give up books at all. I’m not giving up reading, just the way I read.

But this isn’t about books v. the Internet. This is about how we’re going to read in the future.

As the daughter of a librarian, I can tell you that books are a precious resource. If we don’t buy and read books, authors lose money, publishing houses lose money, libraries will close and more. However, we’re finding ways to get around some of it, for example the aforementioned electronic reading devices.

I grew up with books. There wasn’t a day you couldn’t find me with my nose buried in a novel or biography. I understand how books can comfort. Mr. Ng, on the other hand, didn’t grow up around books. His parents weren’t avid readers and they didn’t encourage reading. Mr. Ng is happy to electronically digest his information, more so than someone who grew up in a family of readers. The words are the same, the only thing that’s different is the manner in which their presented.

While I enjoy watching my son read each day, I know that as his generation gets older and new generations come along, they’re more likely to embrace electronic forms of reading over paper. Books will become antiques and print publishers will primarily publish online. I’m sure we’ll still have physical copies in our hands to hold for quite some time, but as more people embrace gadgetry and fewer people buy books, magazines and newspapers, eventually these will all phase out. That’s my prediction anyway. I don’t know if it will happen completely during my lifetime, but it’s going to happen. We’re living in a time when convenience is king and paperless is the way to go. Our kids, their kids, and their grandkids, won’t cherish books and newspapers as we did.

Remember vinyl?

Mixed Emotions

To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about all this. I love books, it’s in my blood. However, I don’t miss newspapers and I’ve knocked down the amount of magazines I subscribe to. My background is in publishing, so I do understand the implications of all this. I’m just happy to read and if I can do that with one device instead of a houseful of books, it’s something I can live with.

I choose to embrace change rather than to fight it.

What do you think? What is the future of reading?


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12 responses
  1. Autumn Christian Avatar

    I believe with the release of the Kindle, and other new e-book releases, we’re starting to see a shift away from physical books. However, unlike the iPod with CD stores, the Kindle isn’t running bookstores out of business. The e-book reader isn’t anything new, though the Kindle does make it easier to read e-books because you can download them directly and there’s no harsh glare on the pages.

    Many people who grew up reading books have visceral memories of the pages, the binding, the weight in their hands. The pleasure of reading a book isn’t simply text on a flat screen, but the feeling of a three dimensional object in their hands.

    Maybe younger generations who grow up on electronic e-book readers and internet news will regard that sort of nostalgia as nonsense, much as we who own very few physical copies of music have difficult understanding the need of some people to hold onto their CD and record players.

  2. Jim Lochner Avatar

    Great post, Deb. I think you’re right in a lot of your predictions and I know the struggles between online reading and physical books. For me, because I spend so much of my time staring at a screen for my writing gigs, reading online IS work. While I find great information, I’m not sure I want to read an entire book online. (Someone give me an iPad, Kindle or Nook to try, and I’ll re-evaluate my position.)

    As a music lover, I’ve lived through vinyl, the 8-track tape, cassettes, and CDs. Now mp3s are taking over. I still prefer the tactile sensation and pure sound of the CD, but I can’t deny that I’m joined at the hip with my iPod. It’s harder for me to make peace with download-only releases, but I think that may become the norm. So I adapt, maybe kicking and screaming a bit, but I adapt.

    Since I live in NYC, space is a premium. I have boxes and boxes (plus shelves) of books, and that’s after having sold a lot of them over the years. I still enjoy buying books, but I’ve definitely become a lover of the library the last few years. But I still prefer the tactile sensation of a book. I think an e-reader would probably get me to read even MORE books, and then I can still save the purchasing of physical books to only the ones that go with certain topics I love, collections I have, etc., just like I do now.

    I think another question to ponder: “What is reading?” Is reading newspapers and magazines, whether physically or online, actually “reading”? I’m leery of people who don’t read books. Perhaps it’s a commitment thing. If you’re reading books, you’re using your time and energy to enter another world, to bare your soul at the hands of the author. Reading books is a very personal activity for me, and I’m still shocked at how many people I’ve met over my 47 years (I’d say probably 90% or more) that don’t read books.

    My love of reading came from watching my mother bake in the hot Texas sun summer after summer…reading. I don’t remember her ever pushing reading on me, though I think probably I’ve always loved to read, even from my earliest years. These last few years, she has asked me where/when I learned how to write so well. Some of that is parental pride, I’m sure, but any talent I may have came from the reading that she instilled in me simply through osmosis. It’s one of my treasured memories and hopefully there will always be the long-form book out there, in whatever form, to entertain, challenge, and inspire me.

    Sorry for my rambling, multi-topic musings. Did ANY of it have to do with your post? LOL I hope so.
    .-= Jim Lochner´s last blog ..Contest: What Does Film Music Mean To You? =-.

  3. Barbara Avatar

    Great post, Deb. Interesting that you choose to embrace the Kindle. Me, I have vowed never to buy one. I get an aesthetic pleasure from curling up with a book that I know I will never get from curling up with an electronic object. My sons are under age 3 and already I am trying to instill in them, not just a love of reading, but a love of books (of course, I know that they’ll be the first ones wanting a Kindle when they’re old enough). My mother-in-law is an amateur bookbinder, and I hope that her love of the physical beauty of books will somehow resonate with my sons as well.

    I think I agree with your vision of reading and books – at least for Americans/Anglophones. I live in France (though I’m American) and I can’t imagine a book-less future here the way I can in the U.S. The Kindle exists in France, but I’ve read that about half the titles are available here than are available in the U.S. I’m not at all tapped into the publishing community here, but I feel sure that somewhere there’s a fight against the wholesale digitizing of books, even if it’s a losing battle.
    .-= Barbara´s last blog ..EuroWriter – a new magazine database =-.

  4. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    I don’t think conventional reading is going away any time soon. I say this because of the years that I spent teaching. Kindles and other e-readers are expensive. Reading in an elementary setting requires having multiple books and/or e-readers. That’s because reading is very tactile when you are learning to do it. Kids have to be able to turn pages and/or push buttons as part of the experience. Elementary classrooms are usually exploding with books, and that’s because teachers want students to constantly be able to interact with them. Schools don’t yet have the money to give teachers 20+ e-readers and a load of e-books per classroom. Even if the funds existed, the amount of elementary e-book content is still dwarfed by the amount of print content that’s available.

    E-books also have to evolve to become a lot tougher and kid-resistant. Conventional books get ripped, pages end up missing, and spines are broken as a result of multiple students using them over time. Kids are going to be kids, and any e-reader that’s going to be used in an elementary classroom will eventually be dropped, kicked, and/or poked. Teachers are going to want their students to interact with the e-readers. The devices will need to be designed to withstand daily use by kids, not adults who usually remember to power their e-readers down and put them away so the screens aren’t scratched.

    I do think that eventually e-readers will become more mainstream than a conventional book, but we’re not close to that point yer. Books as we know them are still safe. 🙂

  5. poch Avatar

    I would choose books too but like you, I wouldn’t exchange it for
    the internet too -I couldn’t afford to buy books if I stop working
    on the Net! Maybe, the question should be:
    ‘Which do you prefer, books or internet?’ Then there’s no more conflict.

  6. Chari Dodge Avatar

    I own heaps of books but in the past few years have used the library more than the bookstore and I used to subscribe to several magazines but now get none. I say I want books and magazines to continue and since I write for magazines and would love to have the book I am writing published, I am working against my own best interest when I don’t support them with my dollars.

    On the other hand our local newspaper, which I have always subscribed to, has gone from a daily, multi section newspaper to a three day a week paper that we sometimes mistake for the flyer the neighborhood watch puts out. Sending them the monthly check didn’t stop the paper’s decline.

    I will always read. Heck, I read the backs of cereal boxes, and the sides and the tops for that matter, if nothing else is available, but I worry about what will survive for the future. Jim mentioned music technology. We have 8-track tapes by artists who didn’t quite make the grade into the mainstream and so none of their music was translated into the next technology, let alone the next three. That will happen with books, too.

    I wish new forms of reading could join the old instead of replacing them but I suppose that is too much to hope for.

    Great post, Deb.

  7. Deb Ng Avatar

    Love the thought-provoking comments in this thread. I think it’ll be interesting to watch and see what happens with books and publishing in general. I don’t think any of us are interested in giving up the written word altogether — just like we didn’t give up music when vinyl ceased to exist.

  8. Carson Brackney Avatar

    The electronic presentation fundamentally changes the reading experience.

    The medium is the massage, and all of that.

    If forced to make the Sophie’s Choice-style decision between paper and computer, I’d reluctantly go electronic. When push comes to shove, it’s more logical, sustainable, efficient, etc.

    But I’d miss books and newspapers and even the backs of cereal boxes. Probably more than I think.
    .-= Carson Brackney´s last blog ..Weekly Post at FWJ–Freelance Writers and Preparing for Change =-.

  9. Christopher Avatar

    I’m with most people, I’m not sure I could very easily give up an actual books. There is just something about it, the weight, the feeling, the smell. It’s an experience in itself. Or maybe I’m just weird lol.

    I have been eyeballing the Kindle for some time now (haven’t been able to afford it yet) so it’s not that I’m completely against electronic reading. I think it’s a wonderful idea really. Your book collection in one place like that. And portable too (big seller for me).

    But once again it’s like one big internal conflict. I’d be hard-pressed to give up my precious books. But I like the idea of some features with a gadget. Perhaps both eh?

    1. Jim Lochner Avatar

      Christopher, I’m with you. Let’s do both. In fact, I don’t have a problem buying something on the Kindle (or whatever), loving it, and then buying it again to add to the physical library. This is all hypothetical since I don’t have an e-reader, but I could see that happening. 🙂
      .-= Jim Lochner´s last blog ..Contest: What Does Film Music Mean To You? =-.

  10. Michelle Avatar

    Great post, Deb. I think you’re right in a lot of your predictions and I know the struggles between online reading and physical books. For me, because I spend so much of my time staring at a screen for my writing gigs, reading online IS work. While I find great information, I’m not sure I want to read an entire book online. (Someone give me an iPad, Kindle or Nook to try, and I’ll re-evaluate my position.)

    As a music lover, I’ve lived through vinyl, the 8-track tape, cassettes, and CDs. Now mp3s are taking over. I still prefer the tactile sensation and pure sound of the CD, but I can’t deny that I’m joined at the hip with my iPod. It’s harder for me to make peace with download-only releases, but I think that may become the norm. So I adapt, maybe kicking and screaming a bit, but I adapt.

    Since I live in NYC, space is a premium. I have boxes and boxes (plus shelves) of books, and that’s after having sold a lot of them over the years. I still enjoy buying books, but I’ve definitely become a lover of the library the last few years. But I still prefer the tactile sensation of a book. I think an e-reader would probably get me to read even MORE books, and then I can still save the purchasing of physical books to only the ones that go with certain topics I love, collections I have, etc., just like I do now.

    I think another question to ponder: “What is reading?” Is reading newspapers and magazines, whether physically or online, actually “reading”? I’m leery of people who don’t read books. Perhaps it’s a commitment thing. If you’re reading books, you’re using your time and energy to enter another world, to bare your soul at the hands of the author. Reading books is a very personal activity for me, and I’m still shocked at how many people I’ve met over my 47 years (I’d say probably 90% or more) that don’t read books.

    My love of reading came from watching my mother bake in the hot Texas sun summer after summer…reading. I don’t remember her ever pushing reading on me, though I think probably I’ve always loved to read, even from my earliest years. These last few years, she has asked me where/when I learned how to write so well. Some of that is parental pride, I’m sure, but any talent I may have came from the reading that she instilled in me simply through osmosis. It’s one of my treasured memories and hopefully there will always be the long-form book out there, in whatever form, to entertain, challenge, and inspire me.

    Sorry for my rambling, multi-topic musings. Did ANY of it have to do with your post? LOL I hope so.
    .-= Jim Lochner´s last blog ..Contest: What Does Film Music Mean To You? =-.

  11. Elvenrunelord Avatar

    I’d like to see a national digital library project started and in fact am working toward that goal.

    Some things in the publishing industry are going to have to change, as well as some IP laws, but in the end I think this is the only way we are going to save the library system with all the social project cuts that the majority of districts are doing.
    .-= Elvenrunelord´s last blog ..The Future of the Library System – The Beginnings of the National Digital Library Initiative =-.

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