I was reading an article on TechCrunch the other day about Disney’s newest venture into online reading. The comments, as per usual, varied in opinion, but one comment stood out to me:

It makes me wonder if books will exist in the same way that classical music and opera exist today, in that a fraction of the educated class finds it to be a refined, involved pleasure, which the rest of the world does not enjoy because those things have a learning curve.

Will reading tangible books be seen as a fad? Will they become outdated, prehistoric, in the way scrolls were once used, now disregarded? Looking back through history, people chose using the typewriter over handwritten letters due to its ease; the telephone became the source of communication due to its convenience. Now, email and texting has become the norm.

Then, musicians like Beethoven and Mozart were revered, and people waited for newspapers to publish popular novelist’s newest stories or chapters. Now, we idolize pop and rock stars while reading celebrity biographies (trust me, I’m not exempt from this). The world is evolving, yes, but there comes a point where you begin to wonder…

For those who know me, you should know my stance on this. I will be the one creating an entire library and hoarding books in secret hiding places in my attic à la Fahrenheit 451 to make sure books never disappear from my hands. And while I love products such as LeapFrog for helping kids learn how to read, I’m not sure how I would feel were digital to go mainstream.

Books are much more to me than a tool to learn. They are the open doors to other worlds, they are the gatekeeper to the imagination. Sure you can take a Kindle and laptop anywhere and read — and if one were traveling, I would advocate for exactly that. But there’s something about a book…something charming and nostalgic and inexplicable. Others have said you can’t curl up with a Kindle like you can a book; that old “books are your best friend” idea just doesn’t seem the same with an electronic device. For me, it doesn’t have the same old, familiar comfort.

I wonder, too, what the impact could be on the mind, if it’s possible that the brain processes information differently on the page verses on the screen. I wonder if our minds are so geared now for the fast-paced world of the computer that when we read on an electronic device, that sense of hyperactive processing somehow doesn’t slow. With a book, reading is almost leisurely, relaxing; it makes you take your time and contemplate as you delve deeper and deeper into the words, the ideas, the story, the content. It seems, with electronic devices, you remain at the surface level.

We seem to have gotten to the point where we want things to be quicker and easier, more convenient and all electronic. But I think there’s something to be said for holding a hardcover book in your hands, fingers poised on the corner, lightly touching the paper as you anticipate turning the page.

There’s something to be said for wanting to curl up in bed with your son or daughter and a familiar book as you tell them a fairy-tale and read them goodnight.

What are your thoughts on the advent of the digital age and its affect on books and future generations?