A: I’m so upset!
K: Why’s that?
A: My favorite magazine of all time has gone out of print and is now released exclusively on the internet. That’s such a drag!
K: Well it makes sense, don’t you think? It was a manga anthology. That’s over two hundred pages printed a month. It makes far more sense to just put them right on the internet.
A: You’ve got a point, but honestly it takes away from the traditional value of manga. The traditional style was made with ink, pen nibs, and plain old paper and bound with several other series in a phonebook-sized magazine. That’s how I believe it should be read.
K: Well, times are changing. Illegal downloading isn’t just for music anymore. Most kids don’t buy manga; they read it online. That is just how times are these days.
A: Well call me old fashioned, but I just can’t click and scroll for hours on end. Staring at a screen is nothing like holding a graphic novel in your hand and flipping through it. I don’t think I could ever use an E-reader and still enjoy reading as much as I do.
K: Have you ever used an E-reader?
A: ……No.
K: Well you’ll never know until you try. Not only is it convenient to have thousands of books at your disposal at any time, but they’re slightly cheaper and not a hassle to carry around.
A: I understand all that, but is it really any better? Everything since the beginning of time has evolved substantially: science, medicine, technology, and surely the way books are written, printed, and bound. But the basic principle has remained the same; You read written words printed with ink on paper or hide. That is how its been since the beginning of time. Why is it changing all of a sudden? Why now of all times? Do books really need improving or is it just our selfish 21st century obsession with convenience?
K: I don’t know. Is it?
A: ……… I have no idea. I just believe that “The farther technology advances, the lower we fall”
K: That’s so closed-minded. E-readers and the internet aren’t just convenient ways to force-feed media to the world. They’re apart of technology, tools made to improve our daily lives. Just think about it; a book-addict college student in a tiny apartment can have all the books he or she wants at a low price while taking up no space. People can read newspapers or novels on 16-hour plane rides without having to pack the books. One can access any given newspaper from any given country whenever they want. Internet devices are bringing us closer to the world around us.
A: Well, I suppose its good to have news and global communication, but how far can the internet go before people realize that books are superior?
K: That’s totally subjective! Maybe people prefer the E-readers and such to books!
A: I just can’t picture a world where libraries are merely computers filled with downloadable files. Part of the joys of reading are holding the book in your hands, feeling the texture of the page as you flip through the volume, and sticking your nose in the spine of a book to smell that warm scent. That could never be duplicated by pixels on a screen.
K: I don’t think society will go that far. Technology is the backbone of modern society, but some people still find themselves computer illiterate.
A: That’s one of the big differences between today’s youth culture and the culture of our parents: We grew up with computers and internet to some extent. We were taught to use these things early in school, unlike our parents. Our kids will be better versed in the ways of technology than we are. Technology is always moving forward, but I believe that books will always remain the same and that’s something that all of society can count on. I know I’ll always buy paperback novels and manga for my children.
K: Nothing beats a good comic book, right?
A: Damn right.
[The end!]
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