In short, I think they might have actually. This article on cnn got me thinking about blogs and reading in general. I know many people who read several blogs a day (I am guilty) but rarely read an actual book (not guilty-love books). So what gives?

Well somewhere along the way the computer became everything cool and anything that was not computer or internet related became uncool. A decade ago it might have sounded romantic to see a young man sitting under an oak tree reading Shakespeare, now that image is most likely replaced with a very metro looking guy sitting in a Starbucks texting on his blackberry or checking TMZ to make sure none of his friends were caught at a nightclub with a celebutant. The world has changed. We are obsessed with our gadgets, in particular our computers.

How can one possibly find time to read an actual book when there are dozens of blogs to read, myspace profiles to update, emails to check and other social networking responsibilities? The answer is: they don’t read. Ask anyone under 16 what the last book they read was, besides some sort of text book they probably won’t have an answer for you. They can tell you what their favorite gossip blog wrote about yesterday or which song their BFF has streaming on their myspace profile, but that is probably the extent of it.

So whose fault is it? Not sure. Who made the first blog anyway? Is someone reading this today instead of a book? Whoops! Guess I just made the problem worse. Bottom line is, people do have a choice. You can read blogs and books, or just books. You can support your local independent bookstore instead of Borders (don’t tell the small bookstore I often go to that I am also in love with Borders - it would hurt their feelings). Blogs don’t have to mean the death of books. Teach your children to love books by reading to them.

When I was in elementary school we did not have a computer, which meant no emails, blogs, etc. We didn’t have a dvd player or cell phones or even call waiting. We went outside to play and we read books. If I couldn’t sleep at night I would pull out my blue flashlight and read one of my Nancy Drew’s (not the cheesy re-vamped ones they put out about 15 years ago -the good ones) in the dark. I was right there with her trying to solve the mystery of the hidden stairs…no modem in site. I still have a couple of copies of her adventures that I pick up from time to time when I need to disappear into something else.

Add to del.icio.us!