A lot of people think that books are becoming obsolete, but Thane Folkard, 13, from Samuel King’s School, says there is still a place for the “real thing” in this modern age.
Some say physical books are being superseded by the rise in popularity of online reading gadgets such as Kindles. These can be cheaper and easier to use than books, and take up less space while also having a dark mode to enable reading at night.
They may also be less fragile in some ways than conventional books, and more water-resistant.
Other people point out that another alternative to paper books, audiobooks, are popular because they allow people to listen to or “absorb” information while doing other things that may require their attention.
Yet conventional books still have a huge presence in the modern world.
It is satisfying and easy to simply pick up or carry a book, and the tactility of physical books is in so many ways more engaging than e-books or audiobooks.
Books were always the pillars of media, and the world would be very different today without them.
And yet there is another type of digital media rapidly gaining popularity now: audio-visual presentations, or videos. These are very different to books and e-books but can deliver a similar amount of information in less time, and require less attention from their “audience”.
People whose brains have adapted to the modern way of delivering entertainment can find videos very useful. I would argue though, that by becoming increasingly accustomed to the quick format of this medium, they might start to become bored of books.
Although e-books, audiobooks and videos do certainly all have their own strengths and a place in this information age, I believe that the capability of books for entertainment and information transfer remains unmatched.
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