Bolter by Colleen Dilger

Writing has experienced many changes from its start. Print was once only available through handwritten work, which later was improved through the invention of the printing press making printed books “the most highly valued form of writing (Bolter, J.D.2001). Once again print is experiencing an extreme change. In Bolter’s “The Late Age of Print” he mentions how for both authors and readers books and journals are still regarded as “the place to locate our most prestigious text (Bolter, J.D.2001). However many are begging to think of the computer as the primary medium, and consider print as a secondary or “specialized” medium.

I related Bolter’s “The Late Age of Text” to today’s changing world in print by comparing having the computer as a primary form of print to the kindle and how novels and journals are easily assessable through that. In the more recent times now novel’s will sometimes skip being published to print and only be available through e-print on electronics, such as the kindle and iPads.

Having print being replaced by e-books many people feel unhappy towards the change. “As we look up from our computer keyboard to the books on our shelves we may be tempted to ask whether ‘this will destroy that’ (Bolter, J.D.2001). In a sense, yes technology will a way “destroy” physical print, but isn’t it in an attempt to keep up with the changing world with laptops and cell phones becoming sleek, slender bits that can easily be shifted away into our pockets and bags, who has the room to carry a bulky, outdated text? Along with this concept, we are also used to having everything at the touch of our fingertip, we can quickly email a colleague, snap a picture of a memory, or even google search a burning question you might have with little effort so why not have thousands of story’s quickly at our access.

Personally I enjoy holding a book and being able to watch my progress as I read through my story. I like having the physical books themselves and being able to hold them or collect them on my shelf. However on the other hand I like having a 300 page novel reduced to the slender bulkiness of a kindle, along with having the possibility to swap out books effortless without needing to carry my entire reading collection along with me. I understand the disappointment that is often accompanied with the transfer of print to being dominated on technology, nonetheless I also see the pleasure it can bring as well.