[kictanet] KINDLE/IPAD/LAPTOP OR PRINTED BOOKS – IT IS A CHOICE THAT IS HERE TO STAY

[James Kulubi]

The differences
between page and screen go beyond the simple tactile pleasures of good paper
stock. To the human mind, a sequence of pages bound together into a physical
object is very different from a flat screen that displays only a single “page”
of information at a time. The physical presence of the printed pages, and the
ability to flip back and forth through them, turns out to be important to the
mind’s ability to navigate written works, particularly lengthy and complicated
ones. We quickly develop a mental map of the contents of a printed text, as if
its argument or story were a voyage unfolding through space. If you’ve ever
picked up a book that you read long ago and discovered that your hands were
able to locate a particular passage quickly, you’ve experienced this
phenomenon. When we hold a physical publication in our hands, we also hold its
contents in our mind.

…..
We were probably
mistaken to think of words on screens as substitutes for words on paper. They
seem to be different things, suited to different kinds of reading and providing
different sorts of aesthetic and intellectual experiences. Some readers may continue
to prefer print, others may develop a particular taste for the digital, and
still others may happily switch back and forth between the two. This year in
the U.S., some 2 billion books and 350 million
magazines will roll off the presses. Something tells me Cai Lun isn’t turning
in his grave just yet.
Read more here … http://nautil.us/issue/4/the-unlikely/paper-versus-pixel
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