Opinion: Are books necessary?

Books have been around for decades and have been everyone’s primary source of information and entertainment. As time goes on, the necessity of books has declined. Technology has given us a reason to not read from an actual book;if not all, nearly all books can be found on the web. The fact that people don’t have to actually get up and go get a book pushes them to read a book online instead. This leaves us with the question that’ll be answered and a student body ready to : are books necessary in this modern world?                                               

The first Raider felt that it’s not necessary, but it is more beneficial. It is just the readers’ option to choose to benefit themselves or not.

“Reading a real book benefits people more than reading from online, but it is not necessary to read a book from a hard copy,” said Junior Zane Bullock. 

A hard copy book provides people with a better sensation and feeling when reading it. Physically flipping through the pages, the smell of it, and the way it is set up all plays a part in there being a better feeling when reading a real book. The ease of just turning the page instead or trying to navigate your way through a website and trying not to get confused on the internet also adds on to the benefits. Personally, holding the book in my hands makes me feel better about reading the book. Looking at the amount of pages until the end and predicting what will happen between the point of the book I’m at now and when it ends makes me more anxious to read it. 

The second Raider felt that reading real books is necessary because it is a single topic and there are no distractions that’ll prevent your progress in reading the book.

“Reading online is distracting because there’s many pop ups and having the access to do other things will slow you down when reading,” said Senior Denajah High, “A physical book eliminates those distractions.” When you are online reading a book you will be tempted to switch tabs and watch your favorite show or play your favorite game. It gets hard to block the temptation when the access to many other things is so easy. A real book takes those factors away and it is easier for you to sink into the book. When you get into the book it will be difficult for you to switch your mind onto something else. A hard copy book helps you focus more and keep your attention in one spot. While reading a hard copy book it is easy for me to get into the book. There’s many things that I have on my computer that I could and want to pursue which slows me down from reading a book online. I get into my own world when reading a hard copy book and don’t seem to easily get distracted. 

The last Raider that I interviewed felt that hard copy books are necessary because they are more reliable than online books.

“An actual book is more credible than an online book as the internet will forever and always be changing compared to a printed book that remains the same,” said Senior Daijah Watkins. A hard copy book has been reviewed and checked before publishing. Anyone on the internet can change or update an original copy of a book, which makes it less credible.  Not sure who would hack books, but there are hackers and people that know how to get into and change many files. Things on the internet change every minute, therefore, a hard copy book is more reliable than an online version of it. From the books that I have read online, I wouldn’t know whether they’ve been tweaked or anything unless I read the original book copy. 

Online reading may be the option for most people nowadays because of the evolving technology, but hard copy books are necessary because they’re credible, give people a better feeling when reading, and eliminate distractions. While online books have benefits, actual books’ benefits outweigh them. It’s not like you necessarily have to read a hard copy book, but it is just necessary that we keep them because that’s how online books were even created, based on hard copy books. I’ll also stick to the hard copy books because the feeling of opening a book and flipping through the pages is way more satisfying than clicking through a page.