The Digital Age and The Book

James Andrew Burris

History of The Book: 4235

Dr. Alan Rauch

March 9th, 2015

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James Andrew Burris

Dr. Alan Rauch

History of The Book: 4235

March 9th, 2015

The Digital Age and The Book

In a world full of gadgets and gizmos, doodads and doohickeys, and

touchscreens with touch keys, the greatest technology that man is responsible for is

often relegated to afterthought. Many point to the invention of the computer as the

pinnacle human achievement; however the argument will be made for the written

and printed words of the book; text that has been used for education,

communication, and entertainment for the world for centuries. To begin, literacy

itself will be discussed, from literacy of the printed page as well as the digital page.

Additionally, the advantages and disadvantages of digital works and printed text

will be addressed, for their advantages often compliment the others deficiencies.

The book is the cornerstone of information technologies, and that spread of

information is possible with literacy.

So, just what is literacy? According to the definition provided by The Oxford

English Dictionary, literacy is defined as, “The ability to read and write; competence

or knowledge in a specified area.” The National Assessment of Adult Literacy

(NAAL) further divides literacy, with regards to reading and writing, into four

distinct sections: below basic, basic, intermediate, and proficient.

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Below basic indicates no more than the most simple and concrete

literacy skills (i.e. signing a form). Basic indicates skills necessary to

perform moderately challenging literacy activities (i.e. selecting

shows from a television guide). Intermediate indicates skills

necessary to perform moderately challenging literacy activities (i.e.

using reference materials to determine which foods contain a

vitamin). Proficient indicates skills necessary to perform more

complex and challenging literacy activities (i.e. comparing viewpoints

in two editorials)(National Assessment of Adult Literacy).

Although it is common today for a large number of people to have intermediate or

proficient literacy levels, the percentage of literate population was considerably

smaller before the printing press enabled the widespread distribution of printed

text. It was not uncommon for the majority of a community to be considered under

the “basic” category of literacy, if not be illiterate altogether, as literacy was a

privilege for the financially elite and those appointed in the church. Today, many of

us enjoy the ability to easily make sense of the surrounding world of text, yet we

have been required to adapt to a new level of literacy based upon recent

technologies that began to immerge to the public during the later part of the

twentieth century. Those technologies centered around the invention of the

personal computer, which spawned a new literacy level that will be described as

digital literacy.

It bears repeating that a definition of literacy, aside from being able to read

and write, is, “competence or knowledge in a specified area, “ and digital literacy is

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just that; being competent and knowledgeable in today’s digital world. Imagine the

first time an illiterate individual picked up a book. Sure, of course this individual

would have to learn the act of reading itself, but they would also need to make sense

of what the book was, what sections the book was divided into, and even something

as basic as reading from left to right or up to down. There are many variables that

are necessary to be navigated in order to read properly, which in today’s society are

often seen as second nature. Technology today has a learning curve as well, but

taken a few steps further. An excerpt from Barbara R. Jones-Kavalier and Suzanne L.

Flannigan’s essay, “Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century”, relates

being illiterate digitally to not speaking the native language.

For generations of adults who grew up in a world of books, traveling

through cyberspace seems as treacherous and intimidating as

speaking a new language. In fact, Prensky recognized such non-IT-

literate individuals as burdened with an accent – non-native speakers

of a language, struggling to survive in a strange new world.

(Jones-Kavalier)

Visiting a foreign country where the native tongue is not learned can be an

overwhelming experience, and those not digitally literate can feel the same way. To

give a direct example of this, I will use experiences from a job I recently had working

in the mobile technology business. My colleagues and I worked face to face with

customers, from all ages and backgrounds, and different levels of expertise. The two

most polarized groups of people were the technology savvy individuals, being raised

during this mobile computing era, and those who lived the majority of their lives

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without using this new technology. When we asked one of those that were familiar

with their device to find some type of information, the answer would typically arrive

within seconds and with ease. On the opposite end of the spectrum, asking a person

the same question, that was less familiar, or just starting to use this mobile

technology, typically resulted in a return question pertaining to how they would

navigate their device to find the identical information. This showed the barrier that

existed: both types of individuals had the same information in their hands, but only

one could make sense of it because they had the skill of digital literacy. This showed

a considerable crux to this technology; a separation between a person and the

knowledge they seek. As important as it is to be digitally literate, to be able to access

a wealth of knowledge by navigating our digital devices, it still remains that there

are drawbacks to this technology, and there are strengths that the printed word has

over its digital brother that cannot be denied.

There are multiple drawbacks to digital technology when compared to book

technology. Being literate is to have an understanding and to be competent, and it is

natural that with fewer steps or aspects to learn, that it will be easier to become

literate. The digital age has added steps to the process of obtaining information:

once these steps are learned, they become easy to navigate, but computer

technology is constantly changing and advancing, which requires learning all over

again and adapting with the times. In contrast, books do not have an operating

system to navigate, updates to install, and rarely, if ever run out of power!

Additionally, most of the latest technology is expensive to purchase; much like

purchasing books in the early stages of printing, making it a challenge for the

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majority of the world to become digitally literate. Even if one were to purchase a

computer or portable e-reader, they have to purchase the device and then purchase

their digital copy of the book. In comparison, if you want to purchase a book, you

just buy the book, and in many situations a less expensive used version can be found

to make the purchase more economical. One of the main blessings and curses of

digital technology however, is the way it promotes divided attention. A laptop, for

instance, allows you to have multiple windows open at one time and the web

browser contains link after link that can be clicked on to travel from one website to

another. In Naomi S. Baron’s article entitled, “The Plague of tl;dr,” she perfectly

summarizes the type of reading we do on computers, e-readers, tablets, and mobile

phones.

When reading on-screen, we can rapidly click or scroll our way from

page to page within a document. We are able to connect with the

outside world, to hop from site to site, to multitask. Sustained

concentration, analysis, and rereading are not encouraged. Electronic

devices are excellent helpmates for searching and skimming. (Who

among us would part with the "find" function?) With the exception of

e-readers that are built sans Internet connection, digital devices

constitutionally discourage linear, continuous reading.

(Baron)

The last line ends in perfect summary: “…digital devices constitutionally discourage

linear, continuous reading.” A physical book is built with the goal of staying on task.

If one were to read a book about the Civil War, they would read and learn about the

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Civil War; they could not turn the page and change the topic as they went along.

Quickly moving from one topic to the next is further reinforced by the impact

technology has physically on the user as well as Baron also indicates by saying,

“Screens work handily for most short pieces or for content we don’t intend to

ponder. However, e-reading tends to be a poor fit for longer works (especially

heavy-duty nonfiction and literature demanding close reading) or even short ones

meriting serious thought.”(Baron). Reading on small, backlit screens is not easy on

the reader, as it can cause eye fatigue as well, making it a less than desirable choice

for reading material for an extended time. The book holds a clear advantage to

digital technology in many areas, and is more well thought out and advanced than

our world today might think.

In our society, where anything with a battery tends to grab our attention if

even for a fleeting moment, the technology of the book brings substance and focus

to a world that lacks it. There is a timeless magic to them, and they are much more

sophisticated and complex than we give them credit for.

Books may look like nothing more than words on a page, but they are

actually an infinitely complex imaginotransference technology that

translates odd, inky squiggles into pictures inside your head.

- Jasper Ffode

The book is the truest form of what we attempt to use our high tech computers for:

to obtain a wealth of information and to learn more about our world. We use our

devices in the digital age to give us access to the information we desire, but by their

design, they lead us away from our goals with distractions of others. One of the most

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powerful skills in life is to become proficiently literate, yet in this digital age it is

required to become digitally literate so that we may use that proficient literacy! A

new skill must be learned in order to use a skill we already obtained; to make sense

of navigating a new vehicle to get to a familiar plot of land; new table etiquette to be

followed before we may be nourished by the food at the table. The book allows us to

go directly to that nourishment and remove the middleman, and because of this the

book sustains its importance, its prevalence, in our world today.

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Works Cited

1. Baron, Naomi. "The Plague of Tl;dr." The Chronicle of Higher Education. 9 Feb.

2015. Web. 7 Mar. 2015. <http://m.chronicle.com/article/The-Plague-of-tl-

dr/151635>.

2. Fforde, Jasper. "50 Most Popular Technology Quotes." Ebook Friendly. Piotr

Kowalczyk, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2015. <http://ebookfriendly.com/best-

technology-quotes/>.

3. Jones-Kavalier, Barbara. "Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st

Century." Educause Review. Educause, 1 Jan. 2006. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.

<http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/connecting-digital-dots-literacy-

21st-century>.

4. "Overview of the Literacy Levels." National Center for Education Statistics -

National Assessment of Adult Literacy. U.S. Department of Education. Web. 7

Mar. 2015. <https://nces.ed.gov/NAAl/perf_levels.asp>.

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