According to no less an authority than Steve Jobs, nobody reads any more. I'm bound to say that this bears out my own experience, at least as far as the Net is concerned. This is partly because as soon as I spend any length of time online, I start to feel guilty and stressed out, for I know that I would be more gainfully employed getting on with my not particularly gainful employment as a translator.
But that's only part of the story. I think there is something about the Internet, and indeed the computer, that is not conducive to reading. Even in "passive" mode it is too interactive, at least potentially so.
Looking to the future, or "going forward", the big question is: will the e-book prove more suitable to reading as opposed to mere scanning? To coin a phrase for the very first time: the jury is out on that one.
This all means that nothing will ever beat a good old book or good old newspaper. You're right, I never read anything properly on the internet -not even my email messages- but I'm still, in my opinion, a very good real book reader -right now anything that has to do with English Renaissance.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, very nice blog, Mr Dunn.
Love,
Daughter N.1
Thank you, Anonymous, for your kind words.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I sort of half agree with you. I can envisage a day when I would read a book - for example on the English Renaissance! - in e-book format. But I can't imagine ever wanting to read a NEWSPAPER in anything other than paper form.
As a matter of interest, what's the title of the book you're reading?
"The Children of Henry VIII" by Alsion Weir
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