Pages

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Week 16 Prompt

First, how have reading and books changed since you were a child, for you specifically? Second, talk a little about what you see in the future for reading, books, or publishing - say 20 years from now. Will we read more or less, will our reading become more interactive? What will happen to traditional publishing? This is  a very free-form question, feel free to wildly extrapolate or calmly state facts, as suits your mood!

Reading and books have changed quite dramatically since I was a child. As a child, I only found out about new books from Reading Rainbow or from my library. There was no internet, no Oprah's bookclub, etc. There wasn't a social media campaign whenever a new book was released and no notable news or media coverage that I was aware of. I couldn't wait for a new episode of Reading Rainbow that we'd watch in school, or getting that awesome book fair newsprint flyer advertising new books that would be in the school library. Now, we have so many different avenues to become aware of new books, or simply books that are good reads. From GoodReads to Oprah to a slew of different review websites, to book trailers on YouTube, the options are endless. I feel like book clubs are also more popular than when I was younger. To be honest, I don't think I heard about a book club being a thing until I was in my early 20s.

Another huge difference between reading now and reading as a child is the advent of technology -- specifically, eBooks. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined reading the newest book on a hands-free tablet or cell phone. It's bananas to even think about it now to be honest. That is some Star Trek level stuff. Audiobooks are another new technology, but they aren't nearly as impressive to me as the whole eBook revolution. They can be interactive (as is the case with a lot of children's books) and they offer useful tools like a dictionary, Wikipedia lookup feature, etc. They can be really handy and may attract new readers the way paper books don't.

I, personally, will always want to read tangible paper books, but I can see publishing companies making a big push for more eBook readers. Not printing materials will lower their costs and raise their profits, so I can see the publishers continuing to push for this new technology to overtake print books in the next 20 years. In the same way that I could never imagine reading from a tablet, I can't really imagine how much reading will change in the near future now that books are available on tablets and devices. If we change the act of reading too much, doesn't it cease to be reading a book? For example, if we added VR environments to the eBook concept, would it still be reading? Or more like playing a video game? At what point does it stop being reading as we know it and become something else?

To be honest, I'm not sure that I care as much about the act of reading in the future as I do about the next big thing. I can't wait for the next Harry Potter level phenomena to sweep the industry and get people excited about reading again. I think that Harry Potter really changed things for the industry as a whole. I think people who were bookish and read a lot were considered nerds, so having such a huge hit that created movies and theme parks made it acceptable to be a reader. I suppose adults have never really worried about reading being cool or not, but when you can influence the next generation of readers to be passionate about it, that's where the changes and innovation can take hold.

No matter what happens, I'm looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds.

10 comments:

  1. I think it will be interesting to see how new technology will influence the publishing world, and if there would be a new format that we would read books on. I never thought about the influence Harry Potter had on the reading world, but I can see how much this series influenced my life. It will be interesting to see what series would have that kind of impact on the next generation. I'm looking forward to being able to see this over the next twenty years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I vividly remember having LeVar Burton read "Follow The Drinking Gourd" and I would check it out from the library every chance I could. And I still love looking through the Scholastic book catalogs, but now they are mostly kits and how-to books. Which there is nothing wrong with, just not for me :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting perspective concerning the thoughts about if we add more components to reading such as interactive tools in the future will reading still be considered reading? I know from the prompt on Ebola that appeal factors do change but reading is still reading ( from my point of view and some appeals do add to the mediums used with EBooks). I wonder how it will evolve when other things are added to it? Personally I think the Ebook evolution is like the Harry Potter craze because practically everyone is using it with all the new mediums out there now. I think you are right about it only continuing to increase but I still think some form of the brick and mortar libraries will be around. Thanks for a thought provoking post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with you that eBooks have a lot of great features and will probably appeal to a lot of new readers who wouldn't normally walk into a library or bookstore and pick up a physical book, but if it is on their device that they are already attached to, then they might give it a shot. Which is great! However, like you, I would much rather have a book in my hands as well and I think I always will, so I hope that publishers still continue to publish physical books! P.S.-I'm waiting for the next Harry Potter too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Laura,

    Great points! One of your questions is certainly a thought-provoking one. If formats continue to morph and evolve will the term reading a book still be relevant or accurate? Especially when things like VR are introduced. As it is I already feel weird sometimes saying I’m reading, when I am listening to an audiobook. Although audiobooks have been around a lot longer than e-books and audiobooks simply are a narrator reading the physical book to you – so, well, there, I can justify I am reading! That being said, I couldn’t agree more with you and will always prefer the “hold in your hand” print based book as well!

    I wonder how long it will take I’m sure fans of some series’ say they are already experiencing it, however, it will be truly exciting to experience something on par or close to what the Harry Potter experience was like, again. What’s even more exciting is being a “real” part of it; assisting others, affecting others in a positive way, and promoting the role of reading and lifelong learning; in the library!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love how you mention e-books being interactive for kids! My five year old has books on her kindle, she can choose it to read to her, it to help her read, or she reads it. My three year old has books that read to her and interact with items on the pages. We still read "real" books but these are great for the car or during quiet time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Laura, I had never heard of book clubs growing up either. I mean, my friends and I talked to each other about books, but I wouldn't deem that as a book club. I think they had been around, but Oprah made them very popular. It will be exciting and interesting to see what the next great phenomenon will be.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree that reading has become more social since I was a kid. It is easier to interact with people who read the same books I do. It is also great to share and explore new titles through the suggestion of others.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Laura,
    I enjoyed your thoughts and I also wonder about the next Harry Potter level phenomenon. I know of several families at my library who read the books aloud to their children or had the children read the books themselves before they could watch each movie. But I wonder how many others never read the books and only watched the movies.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wonderful final response! Full points!

    ReplyDelete