Finding interesting reading in a digital world
From the outset, I should make it clear that I am probably an old fogie. I don't say this with pride--only that I realize my limitations. There are a couple things that concern me about going paperless--especially when it comes to books.
The first is that I find it much less stressful to read a mutli-page document in paper format than on a screen. Admittedly it may be the quality of my screens-or it may just be that at 49 I've spent more time reading on paper than electronically. But if I have to chew through a multi-hundred page government report (and I do) I find it easier if its printed. But I understand that this may not be a problem for younger people who have grown up being able to read things via screen.
Second-and most importantly to me-I wonder how people will be able to find a way to stumble across interesting reads if the printed book disappears and the bookshop with it. I cant count the number of times that I've gone into a bookstore to look for one book, or just to kill a few hours, and come out with books on all sorts of topics I never would have thought about if I hadn't seen it on the shelf and picked it up out of curiosity. I'm not saying this can't happen online. But it seems with all the search engines being programmed to point out things that are likely to appeal to the viewer-it will only serve to focus people in only one direction (for example-those that believe that their church, political viewpoint, or other personal belief is the ONE AND ONLY true whatever) and won't help people discover all the wonderous and thought-provoking material that exists outside their current philosophy.
Frankly-I'd love to be shown that I'm wrong. I greatly appreciate that electronic media can be easily updated and made accessible easily to everyone. I just wonder how people are going to be stimulated to look for things that can broaden their minds and make them more rounded people without something like a library or bookstore where they can just stumble over material that they never would have found online because they didn't even know to look for it. I'm just hoping there will be some way for both to survive--or someone will find a way to put together electronic "bookstores" that don't rely on search engines to funnel peoples inquisitiveness along already established lines.
