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This in from Klaus Nielsen in Denmark: (via danbloom)
Subject: forms of reading on paper and reading on screens
"This topic is truly an interesting read (or ''scread''). But it seems to me
that the problem might better be approached from a different angle than
the current focus on the reader's perception of print vs. screen or
other media. The crux of the difference between the two types of reading
is not receptive, sensory or cognitive but material.
When we read something on screen there's a divide between the media
that the text is stored upon and the media that transcribes or
transposes the stored text to the reader in a way that makes reading (or
hearing etc.) possible. We cannot read a PDF file. It would be a
nonsensical jumble of zeros and ones if we were able to pull it out of
its storage media (e.g. the hard drive or USB stick etc.) so to speak.
The same applies for audio CDs or vinyl LPs, MP3 files and the like.
In the book, we have convergence of storage media (or storage device) and
display media. It's a two-in-one solution! We can pick it up anywhere
and granted we can read the letters printed on its pages and understand
the language we can read anywhere. Reading electronic texts (or
listening to any kind of audio book whether MP3, CD or cassette tapes)
requires a machine (a computer or an e-reader) that can translate the
stored information into a display text that we can perceive. So the
difference is not so much our perception of text but the divorce of
storage and display media and the removal of the reader from the
materiality of reading.
I'm not sure about the correctness of the terms "storage" and
"display media". There are probably a great variety of terms for the
same distinction within Library Science or other bibliographical
enterprises dealing specifically with electronic texts. Corrections and
suggestions are much welcomed.
I enjoy reading these discussions on topics related to the electronic
media. They seem to generate strong feelings and numerous contributions.
I've printed them all out to PDF files. There's another discrepancy
between material and immaterial terminology: print-to-file. Usually
printing meant producing a material object, a piece of paper or a book.
But I won't propose that a change in terminology on this aspect is
needed.
Best regards
KN
Ph.D. student in Book History and Literary Theory,
Department of Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics,
Denmark"
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