Coming straight from the desire of my fans today I will be discussing my personal opinion and some data on reading on screens as opposed to paper. In actuality professor Babcock just mentioned it in one of the comments of my last blog posts but nonetheless I will be running with the idea and I am grateful for the help in finding something to write on.
So let me first discuss my personal opinion, the truth is… I am a sucker for books, real books, paper, hardback books are always going to hold a special place in my heart. My entire childhood was filled with books, stuffing them into my bag, turning on the car light to read them, the smell of the pages. All of these things contribute to my love of books. I think reading from a book is so calming and really puts me in a great mood whereas reading something off a screen is less of an experience for me. While others have extremely strong opinions on the topic I do not. I simply prefer reading off of a paper page.
Did I purchase the $250 textbook for my Econ class simply so I could read off of a page and not off the the screen?? No way! If I am choosing between a downloading a book on my phone or ordering a book to my house, I will order it every time.
In an article from Scientific America titled, “The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens” there are many discussion points. One of these points is that in the 1980s there was serious evidence against reading online but then since the 1990s there was a lot of evidence on either side of the isle. My favorite part of the article that I think is the largest summation of my opinion and the evidence I have seen is,
“Compared with paper, screens may also drain more of our mental resources while we are reading and make it a little harder to remember what we read when we are done. A parallel line of research focuses on people’s attitudes toward different kinds of media. Whether they realize it or not, many people approach computers and tablets with a state of mind less conducive to learning than the one they bring to paper.”
In conclusion, I believe that reading on paper may only yield slight benefits from an objective point of view but considering personal experience with reading from books it might be better for some to read from books.
The back and forth on whether I prefer digital or physical copies of reading material has always puzzled me but I think you capture it extremely well. One thing to also consider is the context of reading. Of course I love collecting books, but if it’s a textbook and I am using it purely for academic purposes I feel as if I am less likely to purchase a physical copy for the novelty. Obviously there are exception to this rule because of usability but I think it’s relevant to the discussion.
I feel like I always have to read off of a screen because 90% of what I read are news articles that just came out so… always online. However, I think books are best served in a physical form. There is definetly something about holding a book and the connection it brings. I feel like reading off of a screen, in terms of real books, is a little informal. There has to be some sort of satisfaction with holding the book. I think this is a really cool topic.