Books vs Gadgets

I know this topic might be a cliche but I think it is something very important to let it slide so easily. Although it is talked about everyday, not a lot of people fancy the use of a real book, but rather use their phones or an e-book to read whatever they like.

Of course there are many advantages of having every book you want to read in a very small and portable device like your smartphone, but the value of literature is lost in some way. I’m sure everyone will be asking what I mean so I will explain myself a little better.

It was pointed out to me once that when someone reads the paperback of a story, they are able to use all their senses; they can feel the texture of the book, the sound and smell of the pages while they flip through them one by one, they use their sight whether it is to read the text or an illustration that is included in the pages, and with the use of imagination, they can create a character by understanding the descriptions which the author provides them with, stimulating the senses of taste, sight and sound at the same time. It is truly amazing. Another advantage of books is that the readers don’t have to charge them to read the rest of the plot.

When someone decides to use the other form of reading, all that excitement is lost. I for one can’t stand reading something on a monitor for too long. My eyes sting and I pretty much read less because my vision gets blurry by being exposed to the light emitted by the screen.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I judge others for preferring technology. I’m not somebody who can tell them what to do and not do. It’s a matter of perspective. Everyone has their own ways of reading. For example, I may support the reading of books, but I do love reading some stories on the net. As I had mentioned on my previous post, I write stories on Protagonize, but I also read other people’s stories as well, not to mention other blogs on WordPress. To be more specific, others have more endurance reading online, while others books.