Description
Book SynopsisPeople have been reading on computer screens for several decades now, predating popularization of personal computers and widespread use of the internet. But it was the rise of eReaders and tablets that caused digital reading to explode. In 2007, Amazon introduced its first Kindle. Three years later, Apple debuted the iPad. Meanwhile, as mobile phone technology improved and smartphones proliferated, the phone became another vital reading platform.In Words Onscreen, Naomi Baron, an expert on language and technology, explores how technology is reshaping our understanding of what it means to read. Digital reading is increasingly popular. Reading onscreen has many virtues, including convenience, potential cost-savings, and the opportunity to bring free access to books and other written materials to people around the world. Yet, Baron argues, the virtues of eReading are matched with drawbacks. Users are easily distracted by other temptations on their devices, multitasking is rampant, and scr
Trade ReviewLucid and engaging... Words Onscreen ably brings into focus the impact that reading in one form or another will have on our culture and how practice will change as a consequence of that impact. * Babel: The Language Magazine, Erika Corradini *
Words Onscreen is a timely book. * Leah Price, The Times Literary Supplement. *
For every digital devotee clutching an e-reader, there is an old-school bibliophile brandishing a physical book. But which works best for reading comprehension? In this thoughtful study, linguist Naomi Baron investigates each platform in the light of recent research, and surveys US, Japanese and German reading habits. * Nature *
this is one of the few books to address the question without resort to such clichés as 'I can't smell an ebook' * Scotland on Sunday, Stuart Kelly *
Table of ContentsChapter 1. "I Hate Books": Words Go Digital ; Chapter 2. Reading Evolves ; Chapter 3. tl;dr: Readers Reshape Writing ; Chapter 4. The Appeal of Words Onscreen ; Chapter 5. The Web Ate My Print Button: One-Off Reading ; Chapter 6. How Social is Reading? ; Chapter 7. "It's Not a Book": The Physical Side of Reading ; Chapter 8. Your Brain on eText ; Chapter 9. Faxing Tokyo: When Cultures and Markets Meet ; Chapter 10. The Future of Reading in a Digital World
