MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Do we need a new word for "reading" on screens since it is a very different animal?

geneven · 10-30-2009, 01:50 PM

The problem is based on an illusion. On the one hand we have plain old reading, on the other hand...

Wait a minute! What is plain old reading? Is skimming plain old reading? Sitting in a vehicle trying to find an address -- is that reading? How many kinds of reading are there already?

The answer that every read is a custom-made task, adapted to the purpose it has and the media available, time available, interest available, and other constraints. Reading on a screen is just one more (relatively inconsequential, compared to, say, reading a ransom note) kind of reading. You can't name all the kinds of reading because they are potentially infinite, as this thread shows. Some teachers say that you haven't really read something unless you've discussed it, and other teachers say that you haven't really read something unless you've taught it for years, and what you've been teaching batters its way into your brain. Reading is, after all, a kind of thinking, a custom-made kind, as is all thinking.

10-30-2009, 01:50 PM	#114
geneven Member Retired Posts: 124 Karma: 340 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: Nokia N800, N810, Kindle 2	Plain Old Reading: An Illusion The problem is based on an illusion. On the one hand we have plain old reading, on the other hand... Wait a minute! What is plain old reading? Is skimming plain old reading? Sitting in a vehicle trying to find an address -- is that reading? How many kinds of reading are there already? The answer that every read is a custom-made task, adapted to the purpose it has and the media available, time available, interest available, and other constraints. Reading on a screen is just one more (relatively inconsequential, compared to, say, reading a ransom note) kind of reading. You can't name all the kinds of reading because they are potentially infinite, as this thread shows. Some teachers say that you haven't really read something unless you've discussed it, and other teachers say that you haven't really read something unless you've taught it for years, and what you've been teaching batters its way into your brain. Reading is, after all, a kind of thinking, a custom-made kind, as is all thinking.