"Books are the ladder of human progress", Gorky's famous saying has influenced several generations. As time goes by, reading has always been one of people's hobbies. However, in recent years, the phenomenon of holding paper books to find the "golden house" seems to have decreased, but people holding mobile phones and other mobile terminals to read can be seen everywhere in the subway and on the bus.
Yes, E-Book reading has become the "new favorite" of modern people.
Reading goes to the digital age
Undoubtedly, digital reading is a quiet reading revolution.
Digital reading is the digitization of reading. It originated from the emergence of digital carriers such as the Internet, mobile phones, and handheld readers. It has two main meanings:
◆ The digitization of reading objects, that is, the content of reading is presented in a digital way, such as e-books, online novels, electronic maps, digital photos, blogs, web pages, etc.
◆ The digitization of reading methods, that is, the carrier and terminal of reading is not a flat paper, but an electronic instrument with a screen display, such as PC, PDA, MP3, MP4, laptop, mobile phone, reader, etc.
After 2013, mobile reading became the fourth most commonly used application after mobile instant messaging, mobile search, and mobile music. By 2014, digital reading had begun to surpass traditional paper book reading and become the main reading method. Data shows that in 2014, the time spent by domestic users on digital media has exceeded that of traditional media, and the exposure rate of mobile reading has exceeded 50% for the first time!
With the development of the Internet, people's reading habits have changed. In addition to the demand for fragmented reading, short and fragmented reading is also developing towards systematic reading. Among the more than 300 million digital reading users, "post-80s" and "post-90s" are the main groups, accounting for as high as 64.1%. Compared with the traditional generation, this generation is more willing to accept Internet thinking and digital reading methods. They tend to read and learn through smart mobile devices such as mobile phones and e-readers.
New technologies give birth to new reading modes
The development and popularization of mobile Internet and mobile terminals such as mobile phones and Pads have met people's demand for content on the move. Producing and consuming content anytime and anywhere has become a reading habit for readers.
New digital media portals represented by APP clients and QR codes are developing rapidly, making digital reading more mobile and fool-proof. Weibo and WeChat have emerged, and fragmented reading and social reading driven by the two have achieved further development. Micro-reading has become more popular and widespread, and reading channels and reading content have been rewritten.
At the same time, the pan-entertainment industry is realizing the cross-integration of literature, film and television, animation, and games, and the digital reading industry is also seeking a more diversified and stable income model. The emergence of two-dimensional content and the development of new technologies such as AR, VR, and electronic audiobooks have also opened up new space for the digital reading market. Taking "audiobooks" as an example, China's audio reading market grew by 48.3% last year to 2.91 billion yuan.
The rise of digital reading has provided more fun and convenience for people's lives and learning, but it has also caused some concerns.
The "shallow reading" crisis in the digital age
In the "fast culture" society, people eat fast, walk fast... digital reading has gained people's favor because of its convenience. Whether in various public places or in personal leisure time, most people are either using their mobile phones for entertainment or browsing, or using other mobile terminals to watch movies, play games, etc. In the traditional sense, the number of people who read is decreasing. The so-called "three screens" (mobile phone screen, computer screen, and TV screen) have been constantly eroding our reading time and space. Our reading is becoming more and more shallow and "ubiquitous".
Digital reading has the characteristics of superficiality, that is, the superficial and shallow characteristics presented by people in the process of obtaining useful information by fast reading and browsing. Shallow reading is a search for titles or even a jumpy reading. It is a simple and shallow information extraction, and it quickly digests and absorbs, abandons and updates, understands and forgets information. It does not require quiet reading and deep thinking, like traditional reading.
In a fast-paced life, people need to quickly find the content they need in a large amount of information. Therefore, it is not only the content producers who pursue timeliness, but readers are also accustomed to reading short and fast content. It is difficult to think and judge the reading content in depth in fragmented time, which is not conducive to developing the habit of deep thinking.
Will digital reading replace paper book reading? Non-existent
If traditional reading still emphasizes the "hardship" of "studying hard", digital reading is characterized by the "pleasure" of "reading for pleasure". In this regard, some people are not without concerns. With the rise of digital reading, will traditional paper books be gradually abandoned by people and eventually die? While digital reading brings people a relaxing and pleasant enjoyment, will the cultural charm and ideological depth left by traditional reading disappear? For the publishing administration, the supervision of the massive and complex reading content of digital reading seems to be a great problem for minors who do not have the ability to discern.
Although digital reading is developing at a high speed, the experience advantages of paper reading are also becoming increasingly prominent. Many people no longer pursue fragmented, shallow, and fast-food digital reading modes, but return to the traditional high-quality reading experience.
In the past, those who sang the pessimism of paper reading said that digital reading has a sense of convenience that paper reading does not have; while those who stick to paper reading say that paper reading has the smell of ink that digital reading does not have. Perhaps in the eyes of many people, digital reading and paper reading are two absolutely opposite concepts, showing a trend of one rising and the other falling. But we might as well regard it as two modes of online and offline consumption of reading, which can be integrated and developed. People who are interested in reading will definitely not stick to the form of reading, nor will they mind the reading medium.
