Are films and computer games taking over books?

 

 

Introduction

In the 21^th century technology has taken the step so you can access the world even from your own bed. Computers and the internet is now so cheap that almost any one, given the fact that they are not from a 3 world country, can buy one. But these things are not only used for contacting other people or other country's. What comes with this increased technology is the chance for better films, TV-shows and even computer games. Now i would say that nothing beats to have a good book to read but sadly most people my age would rather watch a film or go play a computer game. This makes me wonder will the films and computer games take over for books?

 

Films

 

This summer the last Harry potter movie came out and on the opening weekend it made $169,189,427 and on the whole it has made $1,320,990,111 so far! I know that this movie can hardly be an example for the whole industry, this is just so you get a feeling of what i am talking about. And now there never comes out a book that sells well or even a comic book, that there is not made a movie or a TV show about it. Even the new hit on a local Icelandic TV station “Game of thrones” is actually made after a series of books. And probably that is the only reason that those books are even sold here in Iceland. But enough of the facts. What is my main concern is that kids my age are more and more just watching the movie but do not want to spend time reading the book. And who can blame them? The movie industry makes billions and billions of dollars every year so they advertise, make it accessible and make a lot of movie's. And kids these day's can never find time to just sit down and enjoy a good book. While it can take a person up to 3 days to read a book it only takes about 2 hours to watch a movie. But there are not only films that are coming in stead of books, there are also computer games.

 

Computer games

With the increased technology there are many different ways now to play computer games. We got portable gaming consoles like the PSP or Nintendo DS. We got the more advanced ones, concerning display quality, like PS3, Xbox 360 or PC games. We have online games, the most popular once on facebook. And last but not least we got improved games on the cell phones. With this many options millions of people around the world spend there time playing computer games. In the US the average age for People playing computer games is 35 and have been playing for 12 years. These numbers are shocking but there are even more shocking numbers like in 2009 25% of all people in the America of the age 50+ play computer games and 63% of parents think that computer games have a positive part on there children's life! And today there are even games who are only made for the age of 3-5. We have to ask ourselves if this is a change we can live with. If kids hang around computers or TV all the time it makes them less likely to get exercise and enjoy the outdoors. But despite all of this books are still selling in millions of copies.

 

Books

When the seventh and final volume in the Harry Potter series came out they sold 11 million copies in UK alone in the first 24 hours and has been sold in around 44 million copies! And again i must state the fact that these books can hardly be an example for all other books since it is one of the best selling books of all time. This is one of the few good news in the book industry. It is getting clearer by every year that young people are less and less reading books. I can just see it around me that most people my age only read books if they get as a present or if it is a requirement for a class in school. Previous generations still appreciate the quality that books bring. Where you can imagine the surroundings, characters and the mood. While in the movies and computer games they take that imagination away. I think most family’s of the younger generation still try to keep the values of books going. But the kids are influenced by advertisements and therefore they prefer films and computer games. If this continues book publishers can not give young and talented writers a chance to be published and therefore less good books will come out. And in the end books will be a thing of the past.

 

Interview

To get a better perspective of the book selling in Iceland i talked to Silja Aðalsteinsdóttir who works as a publisher at Forlagið and has written many school books for Icelandic classes. You could almost call her an expert on the fields of books though she would never call her self that. I asked her what she thought that the greatest things about books was and she told me it was the way writers could play with words to get imagination flowing and create a feeling. When asked about book publishing in Iceland she said it was up and down. When i asked her why that is she replied that when a famous author or a new bestseller abroad came out here the sale takes a peak. But on the less known books, which in her opinion are just as entertaining, the sales stay at average or minimum. What the Icelandic publishers have done to increase the sales of books is that now once a year we have book festival. Which actually was held for the first time in the beginning of this September and was a huge success. What that festival did was letting every one that was interested come to conferences where both Icelandic and foreign writers came to talk about or read from there books. Hopefully this will be an annual event which will increase popularity of books.

 

Conclusion

So despite the advanced technology there are still people who rather prefer books and are trying to teach the new generation to appreciate them. But the film and the computer industry are giving them a run for their money. I sincerely hope that the books will still be there for generations to come. Because books give people so much. They give them increased imagination and there is no better way to put your self in another persons shoes. And i truly believe that if the books disappear the world would be a worse plays to live in. And i know there are more people out there that have the same opinion as I. So in the end the question is will films and computer games take over for books?

Vocabulary

Gross = Total income of something (like movies)

Perspective = how you see things/or your opinion

Domestic = Once own country

imagination = the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.

Publisher = a person or company whose business is the publishing of books, periodicals, engravings, computer sofware, etc.

Publish = to issue (printed ir otherwise reproduced textual or graphic material, computer software, etc.) for sale or distribution to the public.

Annually = occurring or returning once a year

Diegesis = the world of the films story

Sequence = segments of a film narrative that are edited together and unified by a common setting, time, event or story-line. 

Leaves= each sheet of paper in a book is called leaf

First edition= The first printing of a book

Dust jacket= the paper cover

Spine= the backbone of a book

n00b=someone who is bad at playing computer games or is learning to play