With new technology flourishing more and more, gadgets with abilities that were thought to be unrealistic are appearing every day. Phones with internet functions and game programs are not strange, and there are tablets that are designed specifically for book reading as well. These book reading gadgets, called e-book readers, are booming throughout the book industry and are used by people in various age groups.
Cypress High School students use e-books as well. Kristina Bae, a junior, has recently purchased a Kindle, an e-book reader from Amazon, and enjoys it, “Being an avid reader, using Kindle saves me a lot of money since the e-books are usually cheaper,” Bae said. She stated that e-book readers are lightweight and easy to carry.
However, some Cypress High School students do not like the idea of using e-books. “Not having an actual physical form of book is distracting to concentrate on the content of the book, so I would rather carry textbooks than e-book readers,” stated Eric Yoon, a senior. As Yoon stated, some people find the e-books distracting to concentrate and uncomfortable to use. Other Cypress students like Grace Kim, a sophomore, agrees with him “I think it will be uncomfortable to scroll all over the place to read and find information from an e-book reader, I think using hard copies are more tangible.”
Not only the students but also some Cypress faculty members like Ms. Alison Cook own an e-book reader as well. As an English teacher, Ms. Cook allows her students to use whichever form of book they wish to use. However, she does not fully agree with the idea of converting the school textbooks into the e-book form, “From what I know, since the program has new technologies, it is not as thorough as the traditional textbooks and it would be challenging to choose the right publisher that has the e-book.”
Different opinions exist about e-books and there are both advantages and disadvantages in using them.
“I like that e-books are cheaper and convenient than the hard copy books, but I think the hard copy books are more realistic to use,” says Michelle Chung, a freshman.
Living in the technology-filled world, we will have to think of the consequences we will face when we get too overwhelmed with the technology.
Althogh many machines are taking place, I think paper books are much better. Good Article!
Hi Christina!
I liked your article in how you presented two differing viewpoints with those quotes. I also liked your last statement as it raises different questions and provides the reader with something to think about.