Foot: Publish or Perish: The iPad, the Kindle, and the future of books article

This article literally appalled me while I was reading it. I can't really believe that the book industry is "unsalvageable" like Steve Jobs believed it to be two years ago. Though it is scary to realize that more and more e-readers are being introduced to the market, and bookstores like Borders are going bankrupt, I am not ready to let hard copies of books fade into the background. What really upsets me is that Steve Jobs said in this article that people don't read anymore. Excuse me, I read 75% of my time. Magazines, books, newspapers, news magazines, the list can go on an on. The only reason why people don't read anymore is because we do not make them read. I know that I can not speak for every person or teacher in the world, but I value books. Without books how would people get their ideas to millions of people around the world? How would someone be successful if they didn't read books or newspapers at least? Whether people want to believe this or not, reading is the key to everything. E-readers are amazing, I have one. It's a Nookbook by Barnes and Noble. I have over 60 books on my e-reader and it is nice to have that collection right there for whenever I want to read it.

The iPad really doesn't interest me at all. It is just a handheld computer that is shiny and new. Don't get me wrong, I think that technological advances are great, but technology will never kill the book industry completely. Let us remember that people who come up with this technology have to be able to read letters and symbols, and where did they learn that? From books. That is just the major thing that this article made me feel. As for using e-readers in my classroom, I don't think I will unless I am required too. I love my e-reader and it's amazing to have, but not a lot of text books are available for it. The books are extremely affordable, but when using them in my classes I find that the page numbers are different and it is just a waste of time to try to figure out where my professor and fellow classmates are in the reading. Plus, I think that teenagers have enough technology in their lives. Cellphones, pagers, computers, video game consoles, television, iPods and MP3 players have become a common sight for teenagers to have. Holding an actual book in their hands will not be that hard, and may even show them great things came before computers were even invented. Right now, the market for e-readers is expanding, and this article just proves that we are moving towards more digital forms of reading rather than the traditional book. There are pros and cons to both sides, and knowing how and when to use it is vital for our society. Sometimes I just think the only reason we are making all these technological advancements is to fulfill out need to have material things. Let's work on world hunger and global warming. This technology could be used to help those causes instead of stimulating our need for expensive things.