Internet vs Books: Why Books are better than the Internet?
The Internet along with all its superpowers is giving the physical book industry a ferocious competition since its inception, but it is still questionable if it can be accepted as a substitute for books. However, with the ever-increasing popularity of Google and other online platforms, internet usage is becoming more and more ubiquitous, but does it hold the capacity to supersede the value of physical books?
In this day and age, our routine largely orbits around the Internet. From needlessly surfing through Facebook to Instagram, navigating Google, and texting friends and family on WhatsApp, life presumably goes on hiatus the instant we disconnect.
Harkening back to the days of yore, when the world survived without the cyberspace — the “www”, which is inconceivable at the moment. Nevertheless, I revere those days, the time the world spent offline. People gravitated more towards books, read more, and cherished library visits, unlike now, when we are slaves to the digital world.
These days, all the information you require, whatsoever you can envisage, is all at your fingertips, be it "how to solve a Rubik’s cube?", "which laptop brand is better?" or "where to find Asian wear?”. However, a book’s worth can’t be easily overshadowed. You may ask why? mainly if you aren’t an ardent reader, but do you know there are still people out there who would prefer books over the Internet any day?
It’s overwhelming how technology has taken over our lives, being "digitally-savvy" is the new cool. However, in all this chaotic madness called the Internet, books have rather lost their charm. People now assume the internet to be better and faster, while books are a time-taking process. Though, this stands an undeniable fact. Yet it is a book that lets a reader make unconscious assimilation, comprehend and foster imagination. Also, the internet publishes anything whatsoever, without check and balance. Contrarily, books go through numerous inspections pre-publishing, making them a credible information source.
With the surge in net space, digital books and libraries are all the rage. Funnily enough, for a while it appeared like this trend might kill its print counterpart but presently the idea seems to be preposterous.
Someone rightly said, “there is no friend as loyal as a book”. This being since, physical books never run low on batteries. A book can easily fit into a small space. Hence, its portability adds to its user-friendliness. Books can travel with you for days without ever requiring a recharge. A Bible, or Quran and even a Shakespeare novel can fit in one’s pocket and is easy to access at convenience. Also keeping track of reading history is effortless in a book. In contrast, one may get lost going through web pages to find the same information again.
Since the advent of Kindle, a lot of people like to carry it along and incline toward the device for their reading purpose. Being an electronic gadget, needless to say, it needs to be routinely recharged and battery life is invariably time-specific. The reading time depends on the chargeability of the device and or availability of the Internet. Whereas you can read a book without any impediments and time restraints. Also, the satisfaction a book furnishes will ever be missing in digital pages of a Kindle.
The internet has an unlimited virtual assemblage of digital books which are now accessible with a mere click. Nonetheless, being an avid reader, I can never barter the feeling that shrouds me while browsing through the pages of a book in a bookstore, where I can flip through the pages to my heart’s content. Still to this day, when I am going to the library, the anticipation of getting a new book makes me quiver with exhilaration.
A book indeed possesses the ability to evoke senses; the smell of a new book, the touch of the smooth page texture, the leather-bound cover, add to the joy of owning a book. On the other hand, there is no sentiment held while reading online, rather google ads and slow internet downloads might detract a reader. According to research, digital books are also far behind in sales as compared to their paper counterparts.
Moreover, regardless of how obsolete a book is, it retains its sensorial contentment for years and years and holds the memories of forgone times that are forever cherished by the owner.
The debate around the Internet vs the books seems to be never-ending. The internet holds a world of information yet, the worth of a book will withstand the test of time for years to come.
