By Lubna Abdel-Aziz One of the prevailing misconceptions of our age, is that the computer has all but eliminated the use of books. Extensive studies have shown that nothing could be further from the truth. Despite the growing use of the computer in the workplace, the classroom and home, books are alive and well, and thriving, and in many instances, because of the computer. "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that is all!" The answer is loud and clear -- books, books, and more books. Books remain "the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life. While benefits of computer use in the workplace are well established and crystal clear, the novelty is to use it as a tool of learning in the classroom, to aid or replace reading a book. Reading has been the primary tool of education, as well as one of the most important skills in everyday life. It is the one ability that distinguishes us from animals. The way of life of any nation is influenced by the percentage of its citizens who can read and write. Some countries boast of 90 per cent illeteracy, others lag well behind, as in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The introduction of the computer however, is playing a major role in decreasing the rate of literacy around the world, a thought that should give comfort to many a computer hater. Computer use is one of the most fascinating aspects of our modern lifestyle. We cannot turn back the clock -- computers are here to stay and there is much that even books' ardent lovers can benefit from. While computer knowledge and skill is generational, early computer use by young children is positively associated with development of cognitive reading skills. Alfred Bork, a pioneer in the use of the computer during its early days, suggested that the home computer "may well become the primary influence upon the educational system in the future". Indeed he was more than prophetic in his views. It has been only a quarter of a century that computer ownership has found a permanent place in homes, libraries and schools, and yet today it is inconceivable that there can be life without the computer. The computer has evolved and grown from a mere device for programming or playing games to an invaluable tool for developing children's skills and motivation in all academic areas including math, science, language, arts and writing. So, is the computer friend or foe to the classic book, man's best friend since the printing press was invented? It is a thought that occupies many a parent, as children head back to school. It turns out that instead of competing with the book, the computer encourages children's visual skills necessary for reading excellence, while still providing endless possibilities for fun, creativity, and learning. The computer in fact has been a tool, encouraging children to turn to books in their newly-learned skills. Extensive research has shown that computer users are excellent readers, putting to full use their ability to organise, interpret, and understand what they read. Home computers are used by children mainly for "playing games, chatting, and otherwise providing entertainment. For reading, even children turn to their books, as witnessed by the recent record-breaking sales of the sixth instalment of the Harry Potter adventures: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince which sold more books in the first hour of release than the majority of books sell in a lifetime. It outpaced all previous Harry Potter books, making book sale history by selling 6.9 million books in the first 24 hours. Bookstores have sprouted everywhere welcoming visitors to a warm inviting ambiance, with grand old velvet sofas and huge armchairs that open their arms to embrace you. The output of books is outstanding and book sales are booming. They are up 9.3 per cent in the first half of this year and publishing houses are most encouraged. They too are on the rise by 33 per cent in the United States, 10-20 per cent worldwide. Book lovers rejoice -- there is nothing to fear from computer competition. Computers do exactly what they are supposed to do. They compute, calculate, count, add up, estimate, tally, measure, evaluate, figure out, etc. Those are not the reasons we seek the comfort and companionship of a book. There is something half comic, half tragic in the headlong embracing of the computer and the mad rush to fill the classroom with computers and Internet connections. The computer is no substitute for teachers. Thirty years of studies show that computers do not necessarily improve education. A British study from "Alliance for Children Group" warns against leaning greatly on the computer to improve academic skills. "It is easy to confuse means and ends. It is easy to forget that learning goes on inside children's heads!". The reality however, is that computer skills are needed equipment for the young people of the 21st century. Over 60 per cent of the jobs around the world require computer skills. The most recent survey finds that 90 per cent of primary school teachers believe that "children with a basic notion of reading and writing are more confident when they enter the classroom." For that, children need to read books. The rapid advancement of new technology providing so much information at the touch of a button, prevents the practice of gaining knowledge in the traditional sense, which is by reading and storing information in their own memories. Richard Dawkins, world renowned evolutionary biologist believes that the Internet's power to make information available instantly to millions of people at marginal cost, meant it heralded the "most radical shift in educational epidemiology since the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, and probably since the origins of language itself." But indeed the Golden Treasury on your shelf is not so easily dismissed. You've Got Mail (2003) a Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan film, directed by Nora Ephron, combined books and computers to unfold a romantic love story as the couple, both book sellers, meet and fall in love through the Internet. The computer brought them together; the book was cupid's arrow! There is a happy marriage of book and computer, and we are each finding it in our own time and place. Thomas Fuchs and Ludger Woessmann of Germany's IFO institute found that only moderate computer use was associated with good school performance. Frequent and infrequent use results in poor grades, hence the magic word is, moderation. Go ahead and buy that home computer for your child, but do not abandon your bookstore. We are to benefit from our modern technological tools, but must never confuse them with the genuine, the classic, the lasting value of the book, the friend to which we return for pleasure, for comfort, for discovery, for truth. When one sullen day we search for a quieter, gentler, fanciful mood to engage our solitary lives, the printed page interprets all the love and solace, human or divine. Can we imagine what life would be without books? But what would it be without the computer? Which would be worse or more detrimental to our mental and emotional health, to our very existence? In any given situation in today's society, which would you rather be, computer literate or book literate? If you had to choose, which would you keep and which would you give up? Fortunately we don't have to make this choice. There is a rapture in reading; an intimacy and thrill that changes you forever. The communion of the eye and the written word is irreplaceable and incomparable. What joy awaits you as you jump into bed in the company of a good book! No computer can compete with that! The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809-1882)
