I am writing this post to voice my displeasure with what reading has become today. With the advent of e-books, e-readers and even apps designed to enhance one’s reading experience, readers can now read entire publications all on gadgets, with a few tweaks .
An e-book is a full length publication in digital form, consisting of text, and images made readable on computers or other electronic devices. Many e-books are adapted from printed books but some can also originate entirely without having the printed equivalent. Some e-books also come packed with pop-up advertisements.
There is even an ipad app that adds soundtracks to these e-books. The app, booktrack, also has a little animated arrow that makes it easier to keep pace with the music and sound effects as you read. There are also different tones of music that claim to cater to the different tones of a story.
While this may sound like an incredibly enticing idea to some, it sounds completely ridiculous to me. The whole point of reading a book is to read without any extraneous noises, allowing the reader himself to bring the story and universe of the book to life, with his or her own imagination. You can only truly immerse yourself into the story and see the book’s world for what it is and what the author intended it to be when you do so with your pace, not with a soundtrack or arrow setting the pace and tone for you. If readers want to do that, they might as well just go to the cinema. Intrusive pop-up advertisements that aim capitalise on your reading journey do not help too.
Finally, an e-book or app can never, and should never triumph over the novelty of holding a printed book, with the soft pages clasped gently in your hands while you read on a lazy Sunday afternoon sipping your ice-tea.
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