Here’s a depressing and blunt comment from Larry McMurtry, speaking not only as a novelist but as a bookstore owner (it’s an interview):
The end of the culture of the book. I’m pessimistic. Mainly it’s the flow of people into my bookshop in Archer City. They’re almost always people over 40.
I don’t see kids, and I don’t see kids reading. I think little kids love to have stories read to them, but when they get to 10 or 11 or 12, they ...
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Interesting commentary about the cultural shift from books to digital media, and how it impacts the ability of young generation to learn in a "tsunami of technology." An important debate, which is barely outlined in its simplest form here, and deserves more investigation.
My problem with this piece is that we don't see the hard data to back this up. It's true that kids are flooded with new electronic media, but it's not entirely obvious how book-reading is effected by this. I've seen a lot of contradictory reports on this issue but nothing conclusive.
The article hits on the most important issue facing education today: how to involve students and get them interested in really learning. The centuries old techniques–lecture, books, essays, tests, curriculum developed once by teachers and used for years–are failing miserably. Far from being motivated, students are bored and truculent. Why not develop educational tools like digital games and texting that not only reach today’s youth, but actively involve them in the process?
A great article with a ton of differing idea's, and they got these idea's from reading books. Ever since I was a Kid, the thought police have said everything from Rock n Roll to video games would stop people from reading, and maybe even turn them into Charles Manson. Reading takes you into worlds that you don't even know exist, and in a lot of places, they don't.
When I read J.R.R. Tokian 's for the first time it took me to places that You can't explain. When i heard the Beatles for the first time, it did the same thing. I believe your mind has the capacity capture all reality and imagination.
The piece seems basically to quickly summarize what various pundits and learned journals say is happening. I suspect that home and school atmosphere play a really large role in whether young people grow up reading. There is, after all, no reason why people can't play video games and read later on, no?
Most of the young people I know - admittedly a small sample - do read and enjoy reading. They also play games, have Iphones, etc. And I wonder whether the people who used to carve on clay tablets thought that papyrus was the end of the world (I mean, wouldn't it lead to a lot of rambling on rather than getting right to the point), or whether people who wrote on scrolls decried the advent of the page - after all, pages allowed individuals with short attention spans to put a book ... More »
While I liked the story, I think it could have done more. This is not a new topic-- with new technologies comes the question of whether print sources can compete. The new idea presented here is multi-tasking. It's possible kids are reading as much as they used to-- only they are also listening to music or talking on AIM as they read. I think it's easy to just claim books are goners and the author took the easy road.
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