As we come to the end of our semester, I'd like you to think about the notion of "reading" text versus looking at images. There are arguments that our visual culture has made it so we don't read books as much. Do you think this is true? If this is the case, what affects will this have on our future society? If it's not true, please explain how so.
We live in an era where things need to happen fast to maintain relevance. While I agree that images add to that in order to convey a quicker message, I do not think they are to blame for a decrease in book reading. Both reading text and reading into images are forms of understanding an intended message. Stories will be told regardless of the medium. We are simply living in a different generation. I do not mean to say that I believe book are out. I believe quite the opposite personally. And I believe moderation is important in all things. But I also believe change is important in all things. Without change their is no progression.
ReplyDeleteThis could possibly have an enormously positive affect on the future. It will challenge our minds to think of new ways of incorporating classics stories (originally told in books) into new media. I do not think when Thoreau wrote Walden he would have been offended to find out some day, that a film maker had used 24 images per second to create a motion picture which would then tell his story. I believe he wanted what this (fictional, for the time being) film maker would have wanted- expression and communication of ideas.
Change is a trend.
ReplyDeleteLooking back at history I don't believe that reading text will ever go out of style. How old is the Bible again?...and we still read it today.
The media that we use to consume text may change with technology, i.e. the iPad, PC, or mobile phone - but reading text will be around for a very, very long time.
Visual communication is trending because it is now easier than ever to be visually communication with you wherever you go. Five years ago you would sit on the train reading a book, but now you'd find four year old children watching movies on their parent's iPod's.
Creativity begins in the mind.
If everything were to become visual, there would be no need to imagine it yourself. Just a guess, but the millions of people mobbing book stores when the last Harry Potter book was released is a sign that reading text will never be dead. Reading is for the person that wants to stretch their imagination and visualize a story for themselves.
A combination of text and visuals is the strongest form of communication. No wonder we teach our children how to read from picture books. I believe that we will always use text - not only because it is tradition, but because it has worked for thousands of years and the medium has hardly changed.
We may not read books as much, but it doesn't mean that people will cease writing - and people will always keep reading. We are consumers of more media than ever, and despite the rise in visual communication we will keep consuming text.