Throughout this semester our class has been interested in the amount of change that is taking place in book and print culture. At the beginning of the semester, I assumed that this change would only affect the industry and the people involved in print careers; however, these technological changes and innovations affect anyone who reads in four specific ways:
First, readers are more on-the-go than ever before. Everyone needs 25 hours per day, so in order to get information, readers turn to apps, headlines, and notifications to get news. If something is happened a day ago, it’s old news. Because of the increased culture of skimming for news and information, readers have developed a shorter attention span. Very few people sit down for four or five hours at a time to read a book or an entire newspaper. For this reason, the printing world has been forced to adapt, creating more online blogs and apps to spark reader interest. The concept of “close reading” is dwindling, not only because of the change in print culture, but also the society that is causing those changes.
Secondly, there has been a drastic rise in eBooks. This is in response to advancing technologies, as well as the capability for readers to hold thousands of books on a singular, compact device. Bookstores, such as Barnes and Noble, have been forced adapt, creating brands, such as Nook, to offset the lack of sales and participation in hardcopy print. eBooks became extremely popular, causing a decrease in book sales. Many bookstores have closed some of their stores, such as Barnes and Noble, while others, like Borders, have shut down completely. eBooks are often cheaper than printed versions, and most of the time they are cheaper. For example, this summer I read Happy by Alex Lemon. I tried to buy it at a local Barnes and Noble, but the book was not in store it would cost around $15 to ship to the store or to my house. Instead, I chose to download it onto my iPad via iBooks, which only cost me $6 and no time.
Due to a rise in eBooks, the way readers read these books is also changing. There has been a rise in online discussion boards, chat rooms, and comments. The idea of a traditional book club has become a rarity, because it is much easier to type out your thoughts online and immediate receive opinions from people all around the world. Furthermore, this has increased the concept of “fan fiction.” Authors have started to use these discussion boards to create new pieces, making these accessible discussion more valuable to authors, while a traditional book club may be more valuable to the reader.
Clearly, it seems that eBooks and online reading have overtaken the printing culture. Despite this, the is a new group of readers that just might save the printing world, known as hybrid readers. These are readers, for whatever personal reason, purchase both printed books and digital books. According to an article published (online) by Alexandra Alter of The New York Times, eBook sales are in decline, and the print industry is back on the rise. The article states:
“E-book subscription services, modeled on companies like Netflix and Pandora, have struggled to convert book lovers into digital binge readers, and some have shut down. Sales of dedicated e-reading devices have plunged as consumers migrated to tablets and smartphones. And according to some surveys, young readers who are digital natives still prefer reading on paper,” (Alter).
In my opinion, readers still aren’t sure what they what. It seems as though that print culture may not be dead yet; however, the industry will need to adapt to regain the success of the past.
No comments:
Post a Comment