The Death of Books

Blogs have seemed to have their short lived glory, and I seemed to have joined in at the end of that glory. Part of the reason I started a blog was so that I could practice my writing, but it seems that I might be too late for that as well.

In a culture that is wrapped up in technology, reading will soon be obsolete. Already blogs are being replaced by video blogs; a medium that is much easier to process by its audience. So really, it seems like we're in a culture that is wrapped up in simplicity.

In class today we talked about how it seems fewer and fewer people are reading now and how movies are taking the place of books. Really, it seems logical. Books were the main source of entertainment back when there wasn't much technology. Now that we have video it seems only logical that it will replace books.

But I really don't think that there will be no more reading. After all, we'll need it for basic functions. But I do think that books are coming to an end in popularity. It will just put more pressure on Hollywood to make more thought provoking films. But are films enough?

I think that there is something more that books have to offer than films. Every book that I've seen that was turned into a movie just wasn't up to par. It's because you can fit more into a book, and the reader is allowed to use their own creativity. With films, the director gets to show exactly what they want, which can be good. But in most cases the author can never come up with something as good as the reader. For example, if it is a scary novel and the villain is left vague, then the reader can make up what it looks like. Nothing will scare someone better than something they can make up.

So what do you think? Will books soon become a thing of the past, or will they live on? As for me, I think that the new thing for writers will be for film. But I'm sure there will be teachers that will assign books as well.

-Beast