OCDQ Blog

Jim,

I had similar point of view about e-books vs. paper printed books until 12-18 months back. But then I downloaded Amazon's Kindle on my iPhone and things changed.

I love reading some books exclusively on e-books (recently I was given a gift of Kindle). Books which do not have a lot of charts/diagrams are ideal to read on e-book reader (in my opinion). Not only do they cost less and help save trees, but it is also so easy to read a book using an e-reader anywhere (it is lightweight, thin and easy to hold). There are some books (technical or illustrated) which I do not want to read on e-books. I prefer these books in the print form.

Communication form and methods are definitely changing rapidly. Just try reading some of the abbreviations from the SMS messages from teenager’s cell phone and you know what I mean (I for one do not understand half of those abbreviations).

In this day and age of micro blogging, people are trying to communicate in smaller spurts using other multimedia resources. So I sometimes tend to agree about regression in communication.

In my house, we do have dedicated reading time (few hours per week) when we switch off TV, CD Players, and Phones and just read. This is one way to make sure reading habits are nurtured in the next generation.

Vish Agashe

Personally, I read and write much more today than before.

That is less printed material but then – measured in time consumption – much more on the Internet. I still read books but not that many at home. Instead most book – and printed newspaper – reading is done when I travel.

If I look at the content I now read much more stuff (online) coming from foreign countries and in foreign languages. For example reading news presented from where it happened, maybe from different sources there and close to when it happened is so much better than reading an extract about it in your local newspaper the day after.

If I look at my children it’s a mixed picture. My daughter (22) reads lots of books. My youngest son (15) doesn’t like books and printed material that much. On the other he reads and writes English (we are from Denmark) much better than I did when I was 15 – because he spends time on the Internet (including chatting in online gaming).

Jim,

Interesting post.

People are reading fewer books—and fewer people are reading books. The highly polarized “book versus e-book debate” is really only a debate within the shrinking segment of the population that still reads books.

I would see you and raise you. There's a shrinking segment of the population that consumes physical products. CDs, DVDs, and books are among three of the "endangered species" of the digital age.

As an author (there's really no way to use that phrase without sounding pretentious, so I won't even try), I can barely describe the first time that I held my first book in my hands. I can't imagine receiving the same thrill from a PDF or a file on a Kindle. I suspect that musicians feel the same way about their work, as do movie directors.

Sign of the times? I suppose so. That doesn't mean that I have to like it.

Jim,

This post was particularly thought provoking. Thank you.

I had an opportunity to study and write about informal learning in the past year and one concept that resonated with me was the notion of Personal Learning Environments (PLE).

In the context of your post, I would regard reading is one element of my PLE, i.e. a method for processing content. One power of the PLE is that you can control your content, process, objectives, and tools. Your PLE will also vary depending on where you are and even with the type of access you have.

For example, I have just spent the last two days without WiFi. I was also off of the blue part of the AT&T 3G map. As frustrated as I was, I adapted my PLE based on that scenario. This morning, I'm sitting in McDonald's drinking coffee but wasn't in a place to watch your video. (Thank goodness you posted text.)

Even without my current location as a factor, I don't always watch videos or listen to podcasts because I have less control of the content and/or pace.

In regards to your questions, I like books, I read e-books, online content, occasional video, audio books, Kindle on the iPhone. Combine these items with TweetDeck, Google Reader, the paper version of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Amazon, and the Public Library, and you have identified the regular components of my PLE. To me the tools and process will vary based on my situation.

I also recognize that other people will most likely employ different tools and processes. The richness of our environment may suggest a decline in reading, but in the end it all comes down to different strokes for different folks. Everyone motivated to learn can create their own PLE.

Thanks for getting me going this morning.

Don

Jim,

I've been talking about this with friends and family all week! I believe people will always read to acquire knowledge although the mediums for doing so seem to be on a continual evolutionary path.

I got a Kindle from Santa and I'm pumped about it!

I think this will increase my reading three-fold since many of my favorites will be right at my finger tips within one device.

Incidentally, I also received two hard copy books for Christmas as well.

They are both from Robert Wright: "The Moral Animal" and "Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny," which touches on the same type of theme that your blog post has.

Great blog post!

Great GREAT post Jim!

Personally I LOVE the smell and feel of a new printed book.

I sometimes have to check to make sure no one is looking when I caress the cover ;)

AND, I love tech toys, so for me, I am happy with both types of materials.

As for newspapers and magazines, again, I enjoy both printed and online. Printed because there is just something very special about spreading out the Sunday paper while drinking your coffee and relaxing in your pj's.

The reason I enjoy the online version, and I feel very strongly about this, is that I have very high expectations on the validity of the material read. It used to frustrate me to no end when I read an article or editorial that I just did not agree with but had no option to provide an opinion or rebuttal without having to write a letter (snail mail) to the editor and wait (sometimes longer than a week) to see if it actually got posted.

On-line versions allow us the ability to comment immediately and thereby contribute to the story by means of an opinion, advice, or suggestions for improvement. Also, most material online also provides a means for readers to also provide feedback overall, thereby ensuring continuous improvement.

The time I spend reading blogs or viewing multimedia is approximately 10 hours per week, which to me is not enough, however one must sleep sometime.

So to maximize the benefits I always make sure I take the time to read/view my favorites :)

Thanks!

Jim,

Great post, as always.

I've always been a reader and have an entire room in my home devoted to my library (plus some overflow in other rooms). I don't read nearly as many books as I used to, though, because my attention span is much shorter than in the past.

Spending full days online reading and absorbing blogs, videos, podcasts etc (as part of my job!) has somewhat diminished the pleasure I get from books since I'm reading so much. But I do like an hour after dinner with a glass of wine and a good book, curled up in the quiet corner of the house.

I spend two hours a day on a train as part of my commute. In the mornings, I read two newspapers (print copy), and during the evening commute, I read a book or magazine.

My fiance wanted to get me a Kindle for Christmas, but I told him to hold off, as I'm not sure I want to spend even more of my day staring at a screen. Though I expect that at some point I'll change my mind - having periodicals delivered straight to an e-reader sure would be nice.

Jill above is right, though - there's something about the Sunday newspapers, pajamas and endless coffee.