I have always been supportive of print books over ebooks for many reasons, despite their growing popularity. Over this past interim, I decided to finally give ebooks a try. I was going on one of the interim trips and thought it would be more convenient for travel to use an iPad for both textbooks and internet. Along with the required texts for the class, I downloaded a free book for the (incredibly long) plane ride. It was a book I had read about six years ago and thought it would be nice to reread it on the iPad. I soon found that the experience I had reading on the iPad was very different than reading a print book. The intellectual dimension was the same, but the affective dimension was not. I often annotate my books when I read to highlight important or meaningful passages, make connections to other texts, or even write in reminders for myself unrelated to the text. I felt that, while reading on the iPad, I was missing out on re-experiencing the text by not re-reading in the format I originally used. I’m not sure if this was simply because it was a different format, or if it was because the format was an ebook. Has anyone else had similar experiences with print and digital media?
I definitely agree with you. No matter how hard I try I can’t read things electronically. Even if it’s just a short story, I have to print it out and read it on paper. I agree that although there are options to highlight and annotate electronically, it is just not the same as doing it yourself with a pen or highlighter. You lose that personal connection with the work you are reading. E-books seem to distance me from what I am reading, causing me to not pay as much attention and not understand as well as I would reading from print. Although it is the same material presented in both cases, reading from a digital source for me is much harder, takes more time, yet is less effective.
I have noticed that when I read an ebook or an online journal I am more prone to skimming the material. The format of webpages is designed for quick scrolling as opposed to sequential page flipping. Because of this I totally agree that often times it seems easier to effectively connect to print media.
We certainly do have different experiences reading on different formats. The way in which we engage with the text differs depending on the physical representation of it. For example, you normally write notes in the margins of your print books. This function is not lost on ebooks, but takes a different route: you need to touch, hold, and select comment, then type in your note. That may take more time, divert your eyes more, take less energy; regardless, different actions come from different parts of your brain. Your brain responds differently to these changes, causing a neurological difference in reading. I recommend The Shallows by Carr for more on the subject.
That’s so sad to hear. I can definitely see how reading an ebook could be different than reading a paper book. I was actually thinking of getting an iPad or a tablet of some sorts. I know Samsung makes tablets that have a pen that goes with it. Would this help with annotating and actively reading?