Are you riding the subway and have folded the paper in that professional, magical way that reveals a couple of columns at a time? Or are you surfing for news during downtime at work - vertical on your computer screen? Or are you partial to headlines on your smartphone, peering to catch the tidbits, and no more?
A virtual newspaper lacks the satisfying rustle of that same newsprint. And for all that so many of us read our news upright these days, there's something comforting about lying on your stomach, with the paper held barely in front you, as you scan for the scores or the stocks or the weather. Then, reading the paper generates its own form of relaxation. Even reading on the train, the time is set aside for checking out the news.
The obvious (to me) advantages of reading online include avoiding the grime of newsprint. For some, reading online means more time in front of a screen. For others, it means making use of every minute in front of that screen, multitasking your news intake while awaiting results, for example. And for others, environmental concerns trump any pleasure of holding a disposable newspaper in their hands
One might argue that reading online is a different enterprise than reading hard copy - at least, if the reader is past a certain age (I'm not sure what that age is), as the New York Times noted in 2008: youngsters think reading online counts as reading, while those who began their reading careers with ink and paper have their doubts.
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| See here: http://sdheadliner.com/science/study-office-workers-waste-too-much-time-reading-online-news-articles/ A study reveals that people spend a lot of their computer time reading news online. Shocker! |
Me, I get my news online these days. It's to my advantage in terms of my available minutes and my available pennies. I find the Internet to be an efficient means of reading the news - and yes, I would call it reading. But my goal, in front of the screen, is fairly directed knowledge acquisition. Engaging my curiosity. Keeping up with the world's goings-on. When my purpose is the process of reading...well, then, I want a book in my hands (or newspaper or magazine, it matters little). The eye - my eyes, anyway - relate to the ink on the page differently, and it can be restorative. Especially after many hours in front of a screen.
How do you read the news these days?
(Yes, yes, I know all about the radio and the television...thanks.)
Both. I like reading the newspaper but I wish the full content of an article was continuous, so I didn't have to go to another page deep within to read the rest of it. Dislike the foolish process of taking in the paper and tossing it out but it's the nature of it.
ReplyDeleteI like getting info on the computer but do not like reading on the screen as much (even though the full content is all in one place). Tend to use the computer for more specialized info than the newspaper and like that I can get it almost any time.
Seems there's room for both.
I too have to read online these days but boy was it a treat to cuddle up with the Weekend Times a few weeks ago! ;)
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