Discuss one way in which the writer’s agree and two ways that they disagree.
I was a relatively late convert to the e-reader, getting my Kindle five years ago
when it became clear that reading 600-pages of A Suitable Boy while
breastfeeding wasn’t going to work. After a frenzied few months of almost
exclusive e-reading, I returned largely to the traditional printed book for a
number of reasons: screen fatigue, a tendency to scrawl in margins, because I
want my kids to see me reading, and because I’m a passionate supporter of
bookshops and booksellers. But last summer, ebooks changed my life.
My novel He Said/She Said, was a Sunday Times bestseller, but three months out
of the trap, the hardback began the soft fall in sales that is the norm that period
after publication. When the ebook edition began selling for 99p on Kindle for
the summer, I’ll admit that I flinched, but – excluding a few days’ concession of
my throne to Neil Gaiman – it topped the charts for six weeks and I was able to
take my family on an overseas holiday for the first time. (On that trip, I took
seven novels in a device that weighed less than a paperback, like something out
of Star Trek.) I’d always had a core of loyal readers – but these numbers were
something else.
The built-in, one-tap dictionary is a boon for Will Self fans. And as an author, I’m
fascinated by the facility that shows you phrases other readers have highlighted;
what is it about this sentence that resonated with dozens of humans? It’s an
illicit glimpse into the one place even a writer’s imagination can never really go:
readers’ minds. And Kindle’s Whispersync facility lets the reader fluidly alternate
between reading a book and listening to it. What are these if not enhancements
to the reading experience?
And then there’s the simplest, most important enhancement of all: on any ereader, you can enlarge the text. That in itself is a quiet revolution. Page-sniffers
who dismiss ebooks out of hand are being unconsciously ableist. For decades
the partially sighted were limited to the large print section of their local library,
limited to only the usual, bestselling, suspects. Smaller authors might not be
worth the punt and indie presses often don’t have the budget. The ability to
enlarge text means that many readers are enjoying diverse voices, novels in
translation, experimental short story collections – anything they want, for the
first time in decades. Ebooks have given them access to a pleasure they thought
they had lost along with the best of their sight. Likewise, downloadable library
books are a lifeline for the housebound booklover, who may have lost their
mobile library in any round of council cutbacks. The way e-readers have
increased accessibility to books is not an enhancement, it’s a godsend.
The head of one of the world’s largest book publishers has described the ebook as
“a stupid product” that is unlikely to see further growth.
Arnaud Nourry, chief executive of Hachette Livre, stated, the “plateau, or rather
slight decline”, that ebook sales have seen in the US and the UK in recent years is
“not going to reverse”.It’s the limit of the ebook format. The ebook is a stupid
product. It is exactly the same as print, except it’s electronic. There is no creativity,
no enhancement, no real digital experience.”
This lack of creativity is partly publishers’ lack of digital know-how, according to
Nourry. “We, as publishers, have not done a great job going digital. We’ve tried.
We’ve tried enhanced or enriched ebooks – didn’t work. We’ve tried apps, websites
with our content – we have one or two successes among a hundred failures. I’m
talking about the entire industry. We’ve not done very well.”
“I’m convinced there is something we can invent using our content and digital
properties beyond ebooks, but I reached the conclusion that we don’t really have
the skills and talents in our companies, because publishers and editors are
accustomed to picking a manuscript and creating a design on a flat page. They don’t
really know the full potential of 3-D and digital,” he said.
After studying the “mistakes” of the music and video industries, he became
convinced that publishers needed to keep control of prices.“This wasn’t just coming
from thinking of our revenues. If you let the price of ebooks go down to say $2 or $3
in western markets, you are going to kill all infrastructure, you’re going to kill
booksellers, you’re going to kill supermarkets, and you are going to kill the author’s
revenues,” he said. “You have to defend the logic of your market against the interest
of the big technology companies and their business models. The battle in 2014 was
all about that. We had to do it.”
Nourry was clear that Hachette was not “against ebooks”. “People have to pay a
price that is about 40% lower than the print price. And it works,” he said. “The
ebook market has gone down a little bit, not much, from say 25% to 20% in some
countries. There is still a readership for ebooks, but at a price that keeps the
ecosystem alive.”
Discuss three ways in which the writer’s disagree.
As parents, we have come to think that screen time is bad for young children — or maybe
that it’s an inescapable evil. We feel guilty about letting them watch what we fear is too
much or the wrong kind of TV and other electronic media. But there’s a mounting body of
evidence that if you are actually watching along with your preschool or elementary schoolaged child, screen time might not be that bad. On the contrary, as long as you are an active
participant, it can have multiple beneficial effects.
In today's fast-paced, digital world, television has become an integral part of our daily lives.
While it serves as a source of entertainment and information, excessive television viewing,
particularly among young children, has raised concerns among parents, educators, and
health professionals. In this article, we will explore the disadvantages of excessive TV
exposure at a young age and the potential long-term effects on a child's development.
Research has shown that when kids watch shows like PBS’s Peg + Cat, which teaches early
math skills, with parents or caregivers they retain significantly more than when they watch
alone. The more parents were involved and used the strategies, the more likely kids were
going to experience the benefits of the media. Watching media together also gives parent
and child a shared language with which to communicate when they’re not watching. By
really being involved you can get more mileage out of those lessons and adapt and use it in
everyday life.
One of the most significant disadvantages of watching too much TV at a young age is its
impact on cognitive development. Numerous studies have demonstrated that excessive
television exposure can negatively affect children's attention, memory, and language skills.
When children spend excessive amounts of time in front of the screen, they miss out on
opportunities to engage in activities that promote cognitive development, such as playing,
reading, and interacting with others.
Parents talking about what they’re seeing either during the experience or afterwards can be
important. We’re constantly translating and interpreting what we see on a screen or a
particular device so the more an adult can encourage conversation around that experience
the deeper the experience becomes.
Strategies that actively engage young children during screen time include asking openended questions. Just encouraging conversation, to begin with, and also knowing to pause
play, for example to ask questions, to get kids thinking about what they saw.
Making sure that your child is watching programs that teach the kinds of lessons you’d like
your child to learn is another strong argument for co-watching. As kids get a little older,
they begin to reflect on the behaviour and decisions of characters on shows they watch. To
go back to Peg + Cat, for example, it’s not just that kids are learning ordinal numbers and
recognizing shapes. They’re also seeing how the lead character, Peg, deals with frustration
when she is challenged in the way she approaches a problem. She counts backwards, you
know, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”.
What Peg is doing is demonstrating emotional self-regulation, modelling for kids how to
manage strong feelings. “We heard back from parents that kids are relating to that
character not just at the mathematical level but they’re also picking up that same technique
of self-regulation.
Co-viewing from a relatively young age also sets up a precedent that screen time is
something that kids and parents share — a precedent that can be valuable when kids get
near adolescence, and could be resistant to sudden parental intrusion into their
programming.
Television programs, particularly those with violent content, can have a negative impact on
children's behaviour. Research has shown that exposure to violent TV shows and movies
can lead to increased aggression, desensitization to violence, and decreased empathy.
Furthermore, excessive screen time can contribute to social isolation, reducing
opportunities for children to develop essential social and emotional skills.
Children who spend a significant amount of time watching television may face academic
challenges. Excessive TV viewing can lead to a lack of focus, attention, and motivation in the
classroom. Moreover, the time spent in front of the screen often replaces time that could
be dedicated to homework, reading, or other educational activities, resulting in poorer
academic performance.
Excessive television viewing can negatively affect family dynamics. When children are
constantly engaged with the screen, they are less likely to engage in meaningful
conversations and bonding activities with family members. This lack of interaction can lead
to weakened family relationships and hinder the development of essential communication
and interpersonal skills.
While television can be a valuable source of information and entertainment, excessive
exposure at a young age can lead to numerous disadvantages, including impaired cognitive
development, obesity, sleep disturbances, behavioral problems, academic difficulties, and
impacts on family relationships. To mitigate these risks, parents and caregivers should
monitor and limit children's screen time, encourage physical activity, and foster an
environment that promotes learning, creativity, and social interaction.