Comments on: Watching Books

By: Robert Nagle

Robert Nagle — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:14:19 +0000

Would Kafka or Melville made a positive impression on Oprah or Charlie Rose? Mark Twain would have been fun though. I am struck when I listen to the wired for books mp3s how unlistenable some writers are in spite of their literary talent and how charming some talentless twits can be at interviews. On the other hand, I think young writers are more attuned to the need to be versatile in their storytelling. They don't have any choice.

By: Tracy Falbe

Tracy Falbe — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:40:48 +0000

I agree with the first 2 comments. I do not feel the need for sound, pictures, video when reading an ebook. When I want to read, I read. I read both ebooks and paper books, and once I’m engaged by the content I give no heed to whether the characters are digitally displayed or printed on paper. Yes, this has caused me to ponder Marshal McLuhan’s famous statement about the medium is the message. Maybe if the medium is written words, the technology used for presentation no matter how primitive or advanced, does not matter. The medium is still written words.

By: Zora

Zora — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:24:55 +0000

Huh what? I’ve been reading ebooks on a tiny PDA for five years now and I’m no less immersed in an SF novel onscreen than I am in a dead-tree SF novel.

I’ve come to prefer the PDA, in fact. I can hold it in one hand and lie down while I read. Try THAT with the dead-tree version of Anathem, Neal Stephenson’s latest.

By: Horace River

Horace River — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:08:12 +0000

“Reading text on a screen without sound, color, or movement, one develops the uneasy feeling that something is missing. We wonder, Is that all there is? I’m not a psychologist but it seems more than likely that we are bringing to text viewed on screens the same expectations we bring to television, movie and computer screens.”

What an absurd, preposterous conclusion. Our reactions and expectations are dictated as much by the material as by the medium. By default, reading text whether in a paper and ink book or on an e-ink screen does not lead me to expect color, sound, movement as essential corollaries of the experience. On the other hand, reading text is not part of my material expectations while watching a movie or viewing television but color, sound, and movement are.

By: Yoda47

Yoda47 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:21:36 +0000

“We wonder, Is that all there is? I’m not a psychologist but it seems more than likely that we are bringing to text viewed on screens the same expectations we bring to television, movie and computer screens. Indeed, something is missing! How can we not be disappointed – even, God help us, bored – when these blocks of words fail to stimulate the same intense response as a YouTube video?”

I beg to differ. For me, it’s more the other way around. Good writing combined with a good imagination can do so much more than a static 2-D video that only stimulates two senses.
A good writer writer can depict a fully three dimensional world that elicit smells, sounds, texture and more.

Granted, with the way kids these days are all but being trained not to use their imaginations, I’m probably in a minority…