Will Books Become Extinct?

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Will Books Become Extinct?

“Little House on the Prairie” and “Goodnight Moon” are my absolute favorite childhood books that were a recurring part of my bedtime routine. My mom would tuck me into my cozy bed and make sure that I picked out a book for her to read and she would sit with me and read to me until I fell asleep. There was not a single night in my childhood that was story-less; I would not be able to fall asleep unless someone read me a book. I cannot imagine a world in which this option is no longer available. It seems as though the personal connection between people and printed books is so strong that they will never disappear but many people think that with the ever-changing technological advances, the printed book will become extinct or at least shoved into the background. I feel as though it is extremely important to keep the printed books around, and without them, a sense of comfort and identity will be lost.

I am not alone in my apprehension towards the emerging electronic books. Parents and teachers rely heavily upon the printed book to teach their children and students. With the removal of such a valuable possession, what will schools do and how will they react? There are many questions to ponder when discussing the topic of printed books versus e-books or online print. One that comes immediately to my mind is the idea of picking up a book and lying in bed. How can this happen if we have a computer or hand held device? The electronic version seems extremely distant to me. When I was a child, I used to love looking at the illustrations and turning back a page if I wanted to see a previous picture. Will this be possible with the computer version of books? Also, will these computerized, book-like objects be available to everyone? What happens if someone cannot afford one, yet there are no printed books available? Is our attachment to the printed book based on the idea that we have grown up with them and have grown to love them? Are our worries about the disappearance of the book concerned with the physical book itself, or perhaps just about the idea that the book represents?

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