Posted by Sundi Hayes in I came across Nicholas Carr’s Is Google Making Us Stupid? last spring. Since then I’ve been paying close attention to the reading behavior of my 11-year-old.
I’m an avid reader. It started when I was in elementary school. Into adulthood I’ve continued to read several authors over the decades and can go through books at an almost alarming rate - which actually makes me prefer a series to a single book.
Although I know there are several places you can read books online I tend to not like sitting in one spot, especially a desk chair or even up-right period, and scrolling while I read. Although I typically get books from the library a UPS delivery of an Amazon box at our house is just this side of Christmas morning. The only thing better than the crack of a new spine and the smell of a new book is the sweetness of a newborn baby.
My oldest son seems to have picked up this love. He has read some of my old favorites and shared some of his favorites with me. Even the second of my 7-year-old twins seems to be following in our path. The first-born twin, not so much.
The concerns which Carr outlines have not come to pass in my family yet; however, it won’t surprise me if they do. The best I can do is pass my love of reading on to my children. Honestly, shouldn’t every parent be doing that anyway? And if they aren’t maybe we digressed way before the internet became the norm. Shall we face it…some people just don’t have a love for reading.
With that I say, Thank you Mr. Internet. I think we should rejoice for every vehicle we use to get any generation to consume information. Fortunately, I realize my children will do it differently. “It” being almost everything I’ve ever done in my past!
Actually, I wonder if history is only repeating itself. When remote controls for televisions came out did someone say we would never view television the same again? Did they say the networks were doomed because viewers would never stay on a station through the commercials? Just to make it clear – I am old enough to remember NOT having remote controls but NOT old enough to remember what the “experts” thought about them.
Even if the book industry is doomed I have some books on hold for me at the library so I need go.
Nibbling away -
Sundi
The book industry is definitely not doomed for me! I love to read, and my kids are quickly picking up the habit (even though they’re small still).
Even though it might be changing, and we have more options than ever, the availability of so many “cheaper” ways of getting information just makes actual, hold-in-your-hand books that much dearer to me.
Sarah Bray´s last blog ..How to know your site needs a re-design: The 5 rules
Me too Sarah! It ranks right up there with writting a letter rather than sending an email. Thanks for stopping by.
My son is 13, and one of my best memories is reading the Harry Potter series. When we began, he was barely reading,so I read them to him, usually at bedtime. As the years went by, he began reading them for himself (although occasionally, he’d ask me to read at bedtime). When the 7th book came out, he read it in a day, then began reading it to me when we’d be riding in the car so I could finish it quicker and he could talk to me about it. It was a wonderful experience!
As much as I love gadgets, I don’t think I’ll ever lay in bed and read on a Kindle – I’d much rather have the book in my hands.
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What a sweet story! Thanks for sharing Gladys. It sounds like you two are close. I hope my son and I are still close when he hits 13!
The ONLY thing I find appealing about a Kindle is being able to bump up the font size. When I check books out from the library I try to get large print because they are much easier for me to read. Most of the business books I’d like to read don’t come in large print (sigh). Regardless of where one stands on the Kindle issue there is nothing like the smell of a NEW book!