4 ms·

Do you really think there is an advantage to books over tech? I tend to think most people are attached to books for nostalgic reasons.

by iLoch 12y ago

andars 12y ago
I believe there are definitely advantages. The one that comes to mind is that physical books tend to offer fewer distractions than tech, encouraging focus on one thing (at least for me).
- Chronic29 12y ago
  There is plenty of software which restricts computer application usage.
japhyr 12y ago
There's an emphasis on words and stories with books that's difficult to emulate fully with tech. I talk extensively with my son about what we read, and about what he does on the ipad. Those conversations are similar, but qualitatively different as well. There are also some physical skills that kids develop from learning to turn pages, and handle books. Books and devices are going to be around for a long time. Kids who develop appropriate fluency with both are going to be in a better position to make sense of their world.
walterbell 12y ago
How many pixels of resolution and what latency of screen refresh does your imagination offer? That's what stories offer - a personalized virtual reality with higher resolution than all current tech. Books are a delivery mechanism for stories. Poems offer even more - the brain fills in the blanks.
- cma 12y ago
  Books and poetry? Seems constricting, why not just put your kids in a float tank and let them have free run of their imaginations without the constrictions of words and thoughts of other people. How else will they free themselves of societies biases, man? ಠ_ಠ Your approach seems almost like saying never take a kid on a trip to the grand canyon or show them a picture or video of it, when you can read them a poem or stage an interpretive dance about the grand canyon instead.
  - walterbell 12y ago
    The comparison was books vs. tech, not books vs. reality.
    - cma 12y ago
      Banning is a poor substitute for discretion.
lurcio 12y ago
Each have their use cases/advantages. & Im not sure that people cling to print solely due to nostalgia/habit. We have just returned to the UK after three years in a small country that had hardly a bookshop, where we've been relying on ebooks. First day in UK we took our 5yo to Hamleys (Toy Shop) and Foyles (book shop). It was a revelation to her. But I can't tell you how enthused we all were by the variety and quality of print books. For me the ebook/interactive app doesn't really offer yet the immersive experience of print (especially for childrens books). Even for technical books/literature, I find it difficult to get wrapped up in an ebook (perhaps because there are so many distractions a swipe away).
ferrari8608 12y ago
I like the physical collection you can have with books. Ebooks don't really fulfill that. Also, new books smell awesome.
JeffMerlet 12y ago
simply to have the brain be more active than passive and stimulate imagination. But this is a free world and everyone to feel what they think is correct. Reading education and brain development materials could help deciding on what is good or not. Parent of a 7yo and an almost 3yo with no TV at home, no computer time at all, and few iphone screen-time: only screen time is during long flights to Europe or somewhere else, road trips or when they are really sick. And the few screen time is always watching something in their second language (primary is English) as we're raising them bilingual. Again, this is our decision and this is a free world. Why? because we feel that encouraging imagination development is key for their future as an adult being artistic or more technical. As adults we are constantly using our imagination for thinking out of the box, reaching far in our imagination for creating new solutions, etc. No judging here and everyone can have is own point of view; and at the end who knows who is right or wrong? My only advice would be for the parents to educate themselves more on brain development and use their own judgement when reading such materials (often really opinionated).
ht_th 12y ago
I wonder if you can have a favorite e-book the same way you can have a favorite physical book? My favorite books I read multiple times, they have become worse for wear, I know every wrinkle I made while reading it, and, while reading it, it just feels right in my hands. I don't have that with e-books. Yes, the content is the same, but I am less able to form an attachment to a virtual copy than I am to a physical copy. Somehow, the holistic experience of reading a physical book versus reading an e-book on a e-book reader is different, although the actual content in both manifestations is the same. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but books and series I care about more, I still get physical copies. For my light reading, however, I'm fine with e-books.
carleeto 12y ago
Kids get distracted easily. With a book, there are no buttons to distract them.

Do you really think there is an advantage to books over tech? I tend to think most people are attached to books for nostalgic reasons.

by iLoch 12y ago

Do you really think there is an advantage to books over tech? I tend to think most people are attached to books for nostalgic reasons.

andars 12y ago

I believe there are definitely advantages. The one that comes to mind is that physical books tend to offer fewer distractions than tech, encouraging focus on one thing (at least for me).

Chronic29 12y ago
There is plenty of software which restricts computer application usage.

japhyr 12y ago

There's an emphasis on words and stories with books that's difficult to emulate fully with tech. I talk extensively with my son about what we read, and about what he does on the ipad. Those conversations are similar, but qualitatively different as well. There are also some physical skills that kids develop from learning to turn pages, and handle books. Books and devices are going to be around for a long time. Kids who develop appropriate fluency with both are going to be in a better position to make sense of their world.

walterbell 12y ago

How many pixels of resolution and what latency of screen refresh does your imagination offer? That's what stories offer - a personalized virtual reality with higher resolution than all current tech. Books are a delivery mechanism for stories. Poems offer even more - the brain fills in the blanks.

cma 12y ago
Books and poetry? Seems constricting, why not just put your kids in a float tank and let them have free run of their imaginations without the constrictions of words and thoughts of other people. How else will they free themselves of societies biases, man? ಠ_ಠ Your approach seems almost like saying never take a kid on a trip to the grand canyon or show them a picture or video of it, when you can read them a poem or stage an interpretive dance about the grand canyon instead.
- walterbell 12y ago
  The comparison was books vs. tech, not books vs. reality.
  - cma 12y ago
    Banning is a poor substitute for discretion.

lurcio 12y ago

Each have their use cases/advantages. & Im not sure that people cling to print solely due to nostalgia/habit. We have just returned to the UK after three years in a small country that had hardly a bookshop, where we've been relying on ebooks. First day in UK we took our 5yo to Hamleys (Toy Shop) and Foyles (book shop). It was a revelation to her. But I can't tell you how enthused we all were by the variety and quality of print books. For me the ebook/interactive app doesn't really offer yet the immersive experience of print (especially for childrens books). Even for technical books/literature, I find it difficult to get wrapped up in an ebook (perhaps because there are so many distractions a swipe away).

ferrari8608 12y ago

I like the physical collection you can have with books. Ebooks don't really fulfill that. Also, new books smell awesome.

JeffMerlet 12y ago

simply to have the brain be more active than passive and stimulate imagination. But this is a free world and everyone to feel what they think is correct. Reading education and brain development materials could help deciding on what is good or not. Parent of a 7yo and an almost 3yo with no TV at home, no computer time at all, and few iphone screen-time: only screen time is during long flights to Europe or somewhere else, road trips or when they are really sick. And the few screen time is always watching something in their second language (primary is English) as we're raising them bilingual. Again, this is our decision and this is a free world. Why? because we feel that encouraging imagination development is key for their future as an adult being artistic or more technical. As adults we are constantly using our imagination for thinking out of the box, reaching far in our imagination for creating new solutions, etc. No judging here and everyone can have is own point of view; and at the end who knows who is right or wrong? My only advice would be for the parents to educate themselves more on brain development and use their own judgement when reading such materials (often really opinionated).

ht_th 12y ago

I wonder if you can have a favorite e-book the same way you can have a favorite physical book? My favorite books I read multiple times, they have become worse for wear, I know every wrinkle I made while reading it, and, while reading it, it just feels right in my hands. I don't have that with e-books. Yes, the content is the same, but I am less able to form an attachment to a virtual copy than I am to a physical copy. Somehow, the holistic experience of reading a physical book versus reading an e-book on a e-book reader is different, although the actual content in both manifestations is the same. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but books and series I care about more, I still get physical copies. For my light reading, however, I'm fine with e-books.

carleeto 12y ago

Kids get distracted easily. With a book, there are no buttons to distract them.