Is the book dead? This question seems to be a hard one to answer for me. And after reading through one of this weeks readings The End Of Books – Or Books Without End?: Reading Interactive Narratives, and listening to all the ideas raised in the symposium, it made me think a bit. I grew up reading books, and I grew up loving books. I still like to read, but to be honest, it is not as frequent as I used to. Technology has definitely played a major role in changing the way I, and many other people around the world, make use of books.

In my personal experience, the fact is that my iPhone is just a bit more interesting and fun to use/read/play, than a book. I was about 16 when I first got my iPhone, and since that day I have probably read about 1/4 of the amount of books I would have if this new distraction hadn’t been introduced into my everyday activities. To me, this suggests that the book is definitely slightly more irrelevant in todays society.

Why would we choose to read a giant and heavy book about film studies, when we can read the same version of that book online, as a PDF file, that has no weight and is easily accessible? The convenience of eBooks, online material, and devices like iPhones and iPads, has made it easy for the world to move on from books, and even begin their downfall.

However, in saying this, there are still many people out there in the world who still read books, go to libraries, and enjoy the feel of a physical book in their hands while they imerse themselves in a story world, or drown themselves in facts and histories.

So is the book really dead? Is it on its way to being extinct? These questions are difficult to answer, but the use of new technology has for sure  increased the likelihood of this happening in the future, and has increased the demand for electronic reading, rather than reading physical books. Which is exciting in the innovative world we live in, but also kind of sad.