In class we have been talking about Modernism this week. One aspect of Modernism that really struck me was how technology was thought of as dehumanizing, as when machines started taking over the assembly lines, so the labor of the individual wasn't valuable anymore. I know that technology is very important to our society, but I believe that there are some areas of life that should be kept technology free.
Earlier this week my friend and I had a debate about books vs. e-readers. As technology takes over, books are becoming part of the electronic world, and soon printed books will be a thing of the past. I firmly believe that this is not good; however my friend took the opposite point of view. He said that books wasted paper (look at how many trees are killed), the only purpose served in owning shelves of books is for vain people to show their possessions, so they can seem more worldly, and with an e-reader is easier to carry on vacation. While I agree with this last part, especially with the weight limits for luggage on planes these days, I believe that without printed books, literature would lose its integrity. I personally like to hold the book in my hand and turn the pages. Also, without printed books, what would happen to our annotations? :) But even more than that, e-readers could be a show of materialism too (look at my new gadget). Printed books may kill trees, but they can be recycled. In fact, a book I am currently reading is made entirely out of recycled paper. It can be done. E-readers use electricity, and everything that's used to make them will end up in the landfills as well, so it turns out to be an even argument.
It reminds me of Metamorphosis, since it's a transformation of society from the way things used to be, and I think that if printed books were gone, we would look back and realize how much we had valued them, just as Gregor realizes the real value of what's outside his window. As society continues advancing technologically, as we all know it needs to, some of the old tradition needs to be kept in tact.
It would be kind of weird if there weren't printed books anymore, although I think it's cool that e-readers can save paper. I don't know if I think they should totally replace paper books. I like how you made that connection to Gregor. I wouldn't have thought of that. It seems like it would be difficult to hold onto traditions when there is so much new technology. Once a certain technology starts being used, it is hard to go backwards and stop.
ReplyDeleteMy comment does not come in regards to whether or not printed books should or should not be replaced by e-books, but rather the last line of your blog. You say that old tradition needs to be kept in tact, but I question this. Constantly it seems that people are unwilling to move forward because they wish to cling to the safe tradition that they know and have slow progress as a fear of the unknown. Tradition is holding us back. People fear that which they do not understand and thus believe that it should not be pursued. We need to leave behind many of these safeguards so that we can advance and think for ourselves rather than relying on the thoughts and beliefs of past generations.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with you that books should be kept paper. The big prediction for college is that we soon won't even have to purchase our textbooks in paper, it will all be on technology. I wish that this would be true when I go to college. Text books are extremely expensive, and one of the reasons are the printing costs. Online versions would be much less expensive and space consuming. Plus, although you did make a good point about how the technology will be in landfills some day, I believe that elimanating books would save so much paper! Not only text books, but if we could integrate homework and notes and everything, there would be much less to carry in our backpacks. It would also help organization. I know some things would be lost, but there are many new things that have yet to be explored.
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