When a printed book-whether a recently published scholarly history or a two-hundred-year-old Victorian novel-is transferred to an electronic device connected to the Internet, it turns into something very like a Web site. Its words become wrapped in all the distractions of the networked computer. Its links and other digital enhancements propel the reader hither and yon. It loses what the late John Updike called its "edges" and dissolves into the vast, rolling waters of the Net. The linearity of the printed book is shattered, along with the calm attentiveness it encourages in the reader.
When a printed book is digitized, whether it's a modern scholarly work or a classic novel, it is transformed into a format similar to a website. This transition exposes the text to the many distractions that come with online browsing. As a result, the reader is often led in numerous directions by hyperlinks and digital features, which detract from the original, focused experience that reading a physical book provides.
This shift alters the nature of reading, disrupting the linear progression of the narrative and diminishing the calm focus that traditional books foster. As noted by John Updike, such digital transformations strip away the 'edges' of a book, allowing it to blend into the boundless expanse of the Internet, where attention is scattered and retention is challenging.
