Do you think paper books will disappear?

In the middle of this month, the Shanghai education department revealed that when the school starts in September this year, schools in various districts in Shanghai will use the "e-bag" on a pilot basis. In two or three years, the "e-bag" may completely replace the paper textbooks. Once this news was released, it once again aroused public concern about the fate of paper books and paper reading.

Since the beginning of the new century, digital reading has rapidly entered everyone's life at an incalculable speed. It not only creates a new way of reading and changes the traditional reading habits, but also profoundly affects a series of links such as book creation, editing and publishing. In this context, paper books, which represent traditional reading methods, gradually lose their original status and even face the possibility of disappearing.

However, just as people increasingly believe that paper books will eventually be replaced by e-books, different surveys, data, phenomena and discussions have repeatedly shown that most ordinary readers still regard paper books as more valuable and meaningful reading carriers, and they agree that the cultural weight carried by paper books cannot be replaced by an ordinary e-reader.

Therefore, although digital reading has irresistibly reconstructed everyone's understanding of reading, what can really change is only the way, not the concept.

Paper books are still the reading preference of most people.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center recently released a new survey. In 1200 parents with parent-child reading experience, most of them think that paper books are still their reading preference and that of their children. Some studies have pointed out that if children are more immersed in the reading of enhanced e-books than paper books, their reading comprehension ability may decline.

In fact, although digital reading is becoming more and more convenient, people can read a lot anytime and anywhere, but the traditional reading pursuit deeply rooted in the concept is not as easy to disappear as imagined.

According to the data of the ninth national reading survey published in April this year, the contact rate of various digital reading methods, such as online reading, mobile phone reading, e-reader reading, CD-ROM reading, PDA/MP4/MP5 reading, has increased to varying degrees in 20 1 1 year, while the reading volume of paper books has increased slowly. However, the survey results also show that 75.3% of the people aged 65,438+08-70 prefer "reading with paper books", and 65,438+065,438+0.8% of digital readers admit to buying paper books after reading e-books. This result shows that paper books are still the reading preference of most people. Reading through paper books can stimulate readers' interest in reading, and the collection value of paper books is also valued by readers.

On June 16, the signboard of "Xinhua Bookstore" was put up in Shanghai Jing 'an Central Business District. This seemingly ordinary event was called by the local media as "the revitalization sound played by the physical bookstore again". The rapid development of digital reading has reduced the living space of paper books and physical bookstores. Headlines containing the words "Bookstore Shrinking" and "Farewell to Bookstore" have appeared in newspapers in almost all cities. As a result, the opening of a Xinhua bookstore was endowed with some important significance of "recovery" and "revitalization".

All kinds of phenomena show that the situation and future of paper books are not as difficult as they seem. Readers still hold trust and expectation for paper books, and there is a relatively stable demand for paper books in the market.

Paper books are more interesting than e-books

With the continuous upgrading of the technology of computers, mobile phones and e-readers, the advertising language of many products particularly emphasizes that products have the feeling of paper reading. However, the machine is always a machine. Even though the display effect of the iPhone 4S and the new iPad is very close to the paper book, it is only the feeling of the eyes, and it is still difficult for the palm to replace the texture of paper. It can be seen that the reading experience brought by paper reading is still beyond the reach of machines. Therefore, the pursuit of paper reading experience has become a contrarian move in the digital wave from time to time. Readers who often read through computers, mobile phones and e-readers can better appreciate the advantages of paper reading.

On the Baidu.com, a netizen asked a question: "Who can summarize the advantages and disadvantages of paper books and e-books?" Netizen "Dream Firefly" replied: "Paper books are scribbled, comfortable and realistic to read, but not easy to carry and organize; E-books have the advantages of portability, low production cost, easy dissemination and large amount of information. Disadvantages include that information is easily lost and reading for a long time is harmful to the eyes. " This comparison may not be comprehensive, but it basically summarizes the basic feelings of ordinary readers about the two reading carriers.

E-books are easy to carry, delete and modify. On the one hand, they do bring a lot of convenience to reading, but on the other hand, they also dilute the sense of value of reading. Comparatively speaking, in addition to being more authentic in form, the natural cultural weight of paper books can also make readers feel the atmosphere and interest of reading. Therefore, someone once said, "Paper books are more interesting than e-books." This smell is not only the smell of books, but also the smell of culture.

In recent years, in order to promote readers to return to paper reading, many cities have slogan of "scholarly society" and "scholarly city", and even held interesting activities of "eating books" on World Book Day to appeal to readers to pay attention to paper reading.

Since the beginning of this year, jonathan franzen, a famous American writer who appeared on the cover of Time magazine, has repeatedly bombarded e-books. He has publicly expressed that he doesn't like reading with e-readers, fearing that one day electronic infringement may destroy the publishing industry and even his writing. Jonathan's worries reflect a general psychology in the literary, academic and publishing circles. In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, Wu Jun, a professor at Nanjing University, once talked about the influence of the digital age on creation and reading. In his view, digital reading and writing will change the literary form and then change the aesthetic standards. Therefore, he particularly emphasized the function and task of literary criticism. He said: "Critics can't be aphasia. Facing the new literary reality and creative reality, criticism should have its own voice and play a guiding role. "

The cultural inheritance function of paper books is worth cherishing and sticking to.

Paper, born in China; The emergence of papermaking is of great significance to promoting the development of world civilization. Therefore, paper, paper books and paper reading are of extraordinary value to China people. It is true that digital reading has become an irreversible trend. However, the function and role of paper books in inheriting tradition and continuing culture is still worth cherishing and sticking to.

A popular term is "shallow reading". As the name implies, shallow reading refers to shallow reading without in-depth thinking. It is characterized by fast access to information, fast reading speed and fast reading speed, and can obtain more visual pleasure and psychological pleasure in a short time. This kind of reading adapts to the rapid and innovative characteristics of the all-media era, but at the same time it loses the process of accumulation and aftertaste in the reading process. The emergence of e-books responds to the demand of "shallow reading". On the contrary, it is "deep reading", emphasizing the quality of reading, pursuing cultural experience in the process of reading and attaching importance to high-level spiritual enjoyment. Paper book is a carrier suitable for "deep reading", which can make readers more deeply involved in reading, not only provide the aesthetic feeling of words, but also create an overall beautiful atmosphere through book binding, design, paper texture and even ink fragrance brought by printing. It is no exaggeration to say that this series of reading enjoyment can only be truly obtained through paper reading.

People who love reading have a deep understanding of the advantages of paper reading. You can find many related comments by searching for the keyword "paper reading" on Sina Weibo. For example, "the peace of mind and pleasure brought by paper reading can't be brought by any information channel"; "Careful selection, quiet taste, paper reading is more valuable in the electronic age"; "I still like paper reading, e-books can be browsed, but not suitable for reading"; "When I choose digital media to read, it is more about the demand for information, and when I really want to acquire culture and ideas, I will choose paper reading."

According to market news, at present, paper books with exquisite binding and unique design are very popular with readers, and the sales of set books and hardcover books are amazing. Not long ago, Dolphin Publishing House published the book "Seventy Overseas Chinese". This book has carefully selected 70 articles from 33 collections 1800 articles published by Dongqiao so far, and combined them into one volume. The binding design is very elegant, including leather hardcover, imitation leather, raw edges and signature, which has high collection value. So once published, it immediately caused a buying craze. On the other hand, teenagers who are the main group of digital reading will also become fans of paper books. Last year, during the release of the film Harry Potter 7, the sales of the original works increased steadily, and many readers bought the full set of the original works for collection.

In March this year, Global Times published an article entitled "People who read exquisite paper books are better". It is mentioned in the article that the hardcover version of 1Q84 published by Haruki Murakami in the United States sold 95,000 copies, while the electronic version only sold 28,000 copies, which successfully made the paper book "beat" the e-book.

The living space of paper books may start with creating "face". Texture and realism are the natural advantages of paper books, but e-readers are gradually improving users' reading experience through technological innovation. Therefore, it is an inevitable choice to make more efforts on the appearance and collection value of paper books to expand the living space in the future.

Digital reading and paper reading will coexist for a long time.

China people have always attached importance to reading, and regarded reading as the foundation of "cultivating people". Reading itself actually has a certain cultural tradition. Real reading should be linear, continuous and have a living body temperature. It marks the ideological depth and height of a nation and is of great significance to cultural inheritance and national development. Therefore, in the digital age, it is the cultural consciousness that everyone in China should have to discover and attach importance to the value of paper reading.

Reality shows that paper books still have a wide audience, and the reading comfort it provides is still unique. Moreover, most readers still have strong adaptability and habits to paper reading. Undeniably, digital reading will become an important and universal reading mode, but its fragmentation and entertainment characteristics can't meet the readers' needs for in-depth reading. Therefore, the relationship between digital reading and paper reading should not be either or. As ordinary readers, we should fully understand and make use of their respective advantages to serve reading, improve the efficiency and quality of reading and meet different reading needs.

Perhaps, digital reading and paper reading will coexist for a long time, thus invisibly expanding people's reading choices and increasing people's reading time, and ultimately benefiting everyone who really loves reading. □ Our reporter/Yan Wang

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The history of paper

According to literature and physical data, for a long time before the invention of paper, people used knots to take notes and tied knots when things happened. Later, he carved words on the bones of tortoise shells, which was called "Oracle Bone Inscriptions". After bronze is made, it is also engraved with "bronze inscription" or "Zhong Dingwen". Then, write the words on the pieces cut from the bamboo, which are called "bamboo slips". For example, a wide piece of bamboo is called a "bamboo slip". At the same time, some of them are written on the silk of silk products. Before the pre-Qin period, in addition to the above materials, words carved on stones were also found.

Paper is one of the four great scientific and technological inventions in ancient China. Together with the compass, gunpowder and printing, it provided a material and technical foundation for the prosperity of ancient culture in China. The invention of paper greatly promoted the spread and development of culture.

Hemp paper has appeared in the cultural relics unearthed from the tombs of the Western Han Dynasty, but it is very rough. Judging from the early ancient paper unearthed at present and its chronological order, it can be summarized as follows: (1) Fangmatan paper in the early Western Han Dynasty; Baqiao paper, Diaochun paper, Ma Quan Bay paper and Juyan paper in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty; Dry beach slope paper in the late Western Han Dynasty. These papers are earlier than Cai Lun paper, and some have ink fonts, indicating that they were written on paper at that time. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun used various raw materials to improve papermaking methods, which greatly improved the quality and output of paper. The paper industry in the Tang Dynasty was very developed. Xuan paper produced in Xuanzhou, tissue paper produced in Linchuan, Jiangxi, Liuhe paper in Yangzhou and bamboo paper in Guangzhou are all excellent paper products. Xuan paper was produced in Xuanzhou Prefecture (now Jingxian County, Anhui Province) and has been in contact with each other since the Tang Dynasty. Xuan paper is characterized by soft and tough texture, beautiful texture, fine whiteness, durability, and endless changes. Ancient poets praised it as "slippery as spring ice and dense as cocoon", and also called it "the king of paper" and "paper lives for thousands of years"

In the Five Dynasties, the paper industry continued to develop, and the paper produced in Zhou She was recognized as the best paper until the Northern Song Dynasty. By the Yuan Dynasty, the paper industry was dying, and only the south of the Yangtze River barely maintained its former scene. In the Ming Dynasty, the paper industry flourished again. The main famous products were Xuan paper, bamboo paper, Xuande paper and Songjiang Tan Jian. The manufacturing technology of Xuan paper in Qing Dynasty was further improved and became a well-known paper. By the end of Qing Dynasty, machine papermaking technology was introduced into China, and the papermaking industry entered a new stage.