Follow Up: Medium is the Message

Shane Rant 101:

I really hadn't intended on ending this week's series of blogs with a follow-up in the form of a rant, but I feel like I need to get a couple feelings out of the way. This follow-up is regarding technology (one of the two themes of this class) and it also regards a cynical feeling I have towards a certain form of technology. I am a fan of books. Literally, paper-filled books with hard and soft covers surrounding the exterior. I love the way they feel, the way they smell, the way my roommates look at me when I drive by Barnes & Noble on a Sunday afternoon. Cannot begin to tell you how greatly I appreciate the fact I can pick up a book whenever I wish make a note in it, set it down and ponder for quite some time, and then revert back to reading it when I have the time.

This being said, I view the kindle/books on the iPad as a disgrace. I'm almost positive someone somewhere in the world has voiced their complaints about the inability to connect with literature over a tablet of some nature, but this is my blog, and frankly I need to vent. Referring to my prior blog this evening, I believe technology is effecting the human mind in terms of cognitive abilities. This being said, I believe the kindle/iPad is not doing justice to the books they present and the people they serve from a cognitive standpoint. When I read from a book, I tend to let information and story soak into my mind. I can put it down for a long period of time, flip to a certain page that I wish, and connect in ways that I physically can't with a computer screen. I understand the convenience of being able to carry around a less-bulky form of literature, as well as the being able to carry around multiple books at one time without looking like a wandering merchant in the streets. These seem like reasonable arguments. However I still believe the internal, cognitive, connection is lost somewhere between the physical book and the technology that represents it.

SO folks, if you've read this far tonight, I appreciate you listening to my argument and opinions. Hopefully with a little experience, you can form a few opinions as well about this issue. But for now I'm signing off for the evening, technology in my backpack, book in my hand.