Have you ever been so into a book that you couldn't put it down? The need to know what happens next to the hero is overwhelming, and while you take it all in, your imagination goes wild. When you finally finish and put down the book, you realize your mid-term assignment that's due the next day hasn't been started, you haven't eaten for the last 18 hours, and you have 10 minutes to get to class. I had done this a few times throughout university. After almost failing a course, a friend suggested that I try listening to an audiobook. That way, I could still do the dishes, laundry, and homework without putting down the book. I thought he was crazy, that it wouldn't be the same experience. Since then, 95 percent of books I "read" are audiobooks. Audiobooks gave me the freedom while still enjoying an unabridged version of a book where ever I went. This being said, it's not that I have anything against the paperback and hardcover books. But the more I think about them, the less appealing they become.
Being born in the age of technology is predisposed to believe that technology is the future. Not to say books will become obsolete, but physical books may go the way of the vinyl, which is to say they'll gain niche appeal. With the introduction of the "e-readers," the need to have stacks of books on shelves is becoming a less desirable thought. With the ability to keep hundreds of books on a single hard-drive, why crowd your rooms with all those books? This claim is not unwarranted; according to Amazon, the Kindle (a popular e-reader) was the most gifted item in history and sold more kindles then physical books. Some people argue the fact that the price outweighs the usefulness. With an initial cost of around two hundred to three hundred dollars, it does make for a pricy device. But I would rather pay the hefty price in trade for all the extra space I will gain in my small living space.
Convenience, space, and cost are just three things that make me think that technology is the future of print books. But it seems that stories are not the only things being turned into kindle books. Some colleges and universities are starting to convert textbooks into e-books. The appeal for this comes from the lack of textbooks you would have to carry around the school with you, causing fewer back problems for students in the future. But will this catch on in class, or will the issue come up how teachers don't seem to like people using laptops in class? They may restrict students using e-books in class with the worry that some students won't listen but just play around on it instead.
Technology seems to be sneaking its way into the mainstream, but there are strong arguments against them. A lot of readers don't seem to like audiobooks. This is understandable; they say that "it takes away from the experience of reading," and many of the "purists" will dismiss audiobooks saying "it's not real reading" and will refuse to listen to them even if the book could only be found in this format. I can understand how some do not believe it is "reading," but you get do get an experience out of it even if it's not the same experience. It still is one.
So are print books better than audiobooks and kindles? It's a matter of opinion, not a matter of fact. It will change from person to person, but for my future, I choose technology.
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