Technology has increased access to books. E-libraries, book apps, audio books, smartphones, all provide the latest bestseller on our fingertips.
But this comes with distractions, and health risks, writes Special Correspondent FATIMA MUKTAR, who also examines the effect on Nigeria’s reading culture.
About two decades ago, high end book retailers like CMS Bookshop, Abiola Bookshop, and University of Lagos Bookshop, were the exclusive preserve of academics, senior civil servants, professionals, and others in the middle and upper classes.
Technology has since broken that barrier. Hardcopy books are no longer the vogue.
Up against distraction
Religion has also benefitted from this technology. Softcopies of the Bible, the Qur’an, and other religious books can be accessed through a smartphone.
Ordinarily, reading habit should improve with this breakthrough, but there have been more cases of abuse.
William Kumuyi, General Overseer of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, recently banned the use of mobile devices during church service, according to Encomium, a Lagos weekly.
The distraction of worshippers who pretended to be scrolling the Bible while surfing the web was the reason for the decision, the soft sell newspaper reported.
“Even in the mosque mobile phones distract with their ring tones, when the mosque is expected to be quiet during the call for prayer.
“And during the Imam sermon, some worshippers chat on social media or browse the net,” noted Amina Abdulhameed, former Ameera of Unimaid Muslim Student Society of Nigeria (MSSN).
The internet has greatly benefitted the body of knowledge, providing many tools that enhance self-education, even though some turn it into dangerous use, like learning to build an improvised explosive device (IED).
Effect on reading
The effect of technology on reading habit depends on the reader’s own discipline. This is because transitioning to the new age can make or break reading habit, especially among the youth, who depend largely on these devices.
While some use technology to improve themselves intellectually, others get carried away on social media, wasting precious time on romantic chats or on worse things.
Gone are those days when young people took pride in the number of novels read. The greatest gifts then were books. But electronic versions began to replace hardcopies and people began to embrace the technology.
Today, technology has not only simplified reading but also learning, like the use of smart whiteboard for visual illustration in the classroom.
Watch your eyes, neck
While the use of electronic books is good, there is also the flipside if not used the right way, warned Chukwuemeka Anene, an optometrist at Florida Eye Clinic, Abuja, who explained the pros and cons of reading print and electronic versions.
“One is the ability of the person to magnify the text; that is, zoom, which would make one read better. The person also has the chance to change the font size. The best contrast is black print on white background or white print on black background, or red on yellow,” he said.
“When you have a print material, the contrast is constant. But on the electronic platform you can decide to change and adjust the contrast which can aid reading, and one can read longer.
“People find it more convenient to use technology, as they tend to read more and better.
“This technology is easy to come by, as almost everybody has a smart phone; meaning, we are gradually moving away from printed books, especially among the younger folks, as some older folks find it difficult to manipulate their smartphones.”
But on the downside, Anene explained that “glare is one of the major problems faced by people that use electronic gadgets; normally this is taken care of with the use of anti-reflective coatings on glasses and use of screen shields.
“Most computer and phone screens have some protective shields that reduce or eliminate glare.”
He said consistent use can also cause dry eyes syndrome, advising that the lighting in the room should be brighter than the ray from the computer.
“Psychologically, people tend to read better on electronic platform. One could spend five or more hours, unlike having voluminous books which are not portable.
“But there is the implication of computer vision syndrome, which is what individuals encounter when they use computer or electronic gadgets, as people tend to complain that their eyes tend to water. Some begin to have leg or back pain.”
Poor reading habit, the problem
“Any nation, people or person that is starved of good books, especially the right type of books, will suffer intellectual malnutrition, stagnation and atrophy,” Obafemi Awolowo once said.
Reading is in decline globally, partly caused by social media distraction. It is worse in Nigeria, where people historically have a low uptake of books.
The Economist found in a survey that Brazilians came 27th out of 30 reading countries, spending 5.2 hours a week with a book.
Rotimi Egunjobi, Chairman Committee of College of Librarians in Nigeria (COCLIN), told TheNiche that reading is still a huge challenge among Africans.
“This reason is not farfetched. Africans generally have a background of oralism,” he recounted.
“I am not supporting authorities that say Africans were never a writing people, as there was evidence that African people in the olden days used chalk to make marks on walls to record things, but we depended more on information passed down the generations through oral system.
“This background of oralism has a great impact on us and that explains why some people find it difficult to read even the daily newspapers.”
He added that in this era of information technology where the average young person has access to the computer and other electronic devices, the culture of picking up books to read is fading out.
“It is important to stress that information technology has afforded society of having electronic versions of some books.
“Just google for the Bible or the Koran you will get different versions on your fingertips, and most of the time free. Same for literature books.
“But the question is, how many of us will browse the internet to read these books? People prefer to play games, listen to music, watch video, or chat online to reading useful online books.
“More importantly, electronic books do not produce the same feeling as touching the pages of a printed book.”
Technology has simplified access to books, Egunjobi said, but stressed that society needs to strike a balance between hardcopy and electronic versions.
“Essentially, society has not generally tapped into the positive aspect of information technology as far as reading is concerned, and to worsen the situation the information technology phenomenon has drawn people farther away from the printed book.”
Life today depends largely on technology. It saves time, increases productivity, and simplifies tasks. But dependence on technological tools also makes individuals lazy.
People depend on the calculator to solve simple equations, and on computer dictionary to correct spelling.
Amazon, the world’s largest e-bookstore, noted in a report in the Wall Street Journal that “there are some aspects of reading a print book that e-readers still haven’t been able to re-create.
“Digital locks on e-books make it harder to lend a book to a friend, though free works are being shared much more rapidly online than ever before.”
Printed books heading for scrapheap?
The Independent of the United Kingdom reported that “findings, in an annual survey of the reading habits of eight to 16-year-olds carried out by the National Literacy Trust show that 39 per cent read daily using electronic devices – including tablets and e-Readers – but only 28 per cent read printed materials daily.”
Hadiza Muktar, a 400 level mass communication student at Crescent University, Abeokuta, said: “I prefer utilising e-books which have come to stay. Believe me, I notice the weight of carrying heavy books.
“Obviously, I prefer the handy technology, especially with my smartphone, I have the opportunity to download amazing apps, just at my fingertips, without any stress.
“In fact, without my smartphone I feel really incomplete, as I basically read all my materials online easily.”
Muktar Mustapha, a 400 level student of engineering at Ahmad Bello University, Zaria, insisted that technology has improved his reading habit.
“I particularly use the notebook, which I prefer to take notes with. It is so fast, unlike pen, when sometimes the lecturer dictates. I can google-drive, make my notes.
“But sometimes I get distracted sending non-stop instant messages to friends, especially on social media,” he said.
Khadija Kundiri, a 300 level student of medicine and surgery at Ahfad Women University, Sudan, added: “These days I can’t imagine carrying heavy books when I can easily access them digitally.
“Interestingly, I sometimes rent e-textbooks for the specific period I will need them. I took advantage of the Kindle owner’s lending library by simply registering as an Amazon prime member.
“As a medical student, sometimes I may not necessarily get all the required hardcopy books needed for some of my courses, but with this advancement I can loan as many books as I can, which is cost effective.
“But I still use both modern gadgets and hardcopy books to read. The modern gadgets affect my reading habit in a good way, being that if a book is available and free online, it is easily accessible for a user to get a copy.”
Esther Aaron, a graduate of mass communication from the University of Maiduguri, said technology has improved reading habit.
“A friend of mine who has a serious eye defect prefers using audio books, which is convenient, affordable, and easy to use, making reading accessible even to the visually impaired. That is something really impressive,” she stressed.
Supo Jegede, a professor and Dean of the faculty of education, University of Lagos, said in a telephone interview that depending on the orientation of students in school, and the orientation of parents at home, technology can be used to improve students’ reading ability.
Students can now read at anytime, anywhere, at their own convenience, he added.
His words: “Technology, especially in Nigeria where we either misuse or overuse it, the effect can be positive or negative depending on certain factors which include schools, parents and the attitude of students, some of whom stick earpiece listening to music instead of reading relevant materials.
“With technology you can access e-books anywhere as it is published in the Western world, and the complaints over lack of textbooks is not valid anymore.
“When you talk about leisure reading, there are softwares, like Kindle which my daughter uses to read, but the problem is how many students have access to such? That is the problem with Nigeria.
“For instance, in the United States tablets are given to secondary and primary school pupils within school hours. It will be encouraging if that can be done in Nigeria.”
For technology to be useful, Jegede added, there has to be a re-orientation of schools, parents, and students to know the good and bad aspects.
“The implication is that if a child is left alone technology will take him away from reading. He would have a wrong perception of what technology is – listen to music, play games, chat, and there is nothing like reading.
“But if they are properly mentored technology can even improve their reading habit.”
In Egujobi’s view, however, the problem is not in the availability of e-books and e-journals.
“Although not all indigenous books and journals might have been digitalisted and made available online, the problem is that of the attitude that has become a culture.
“The lethargy demonstrated toward reading printed books has now been transferred to the digitalised format.
“The situation will get worse as there are other resources available through information technology that will further rob the little time that would have been devoted to reading.”