The Golden Age

The golden age of reading

The English language has surpassed six hundred thousand words in its vocabulary, and it keeps growing due to the introduction and expansion of technology and science. The English language has always had a main source from which it derived its words. For example, words such as “machine” and “routine” are French derived and have retained their original spelling as it was meant to indicate the users of these words were well educated and travelled. There are also words such as “doubt” and “debt” that have been re-latinized from Old French, in an attempt to return the characteristic of the English language to the classical roots (Greek and Latin).
Nowadays, the main source of new words is technology. Words such as
“Internet”, “social-networking”, “file”, “software” and many more are only existent due to new breakthroughs in science. As such new words are added, the amount of usage of other words change and therefore the written and spoken nature of the English language change as well. For example, some of the most commonly used words today are “ time”, “person”, “year” and “day”, thus relflecting on society’s relevant preocupations, issues and thoughts. Our constant strive to move ahead in life, and keep account of time periods is indicated by the popular use of words that describe it. Also, society’s humancentric nature is emphasized by the extensive use of the word “person”.
Technology has also provided a leap in author and ownership experience regarding literary works, as now authors can see their books being sold online at an unanticipated rate and being spread around the world within a matter of minutes. Authors are more privileged today, as their geographical position no more restricts their ability to develop and share their works.
Furthermore, in today’s age as readers have access to the internet and other forms of media, through which they have become more “global” in nature, literary works from different parts of the world are more easily accepted, appreciated and their contexts understood. We are witnessing a change in the history of reading, similar to that witnessed in the 15th century when the Guttenberg press was invented. This was a time when printing revolutionised the concept of reading and writing literary works, before which reading was only for the wealthy, as all written works were done so manually, and making a single copy of each work would take ages.
Guttenberg’s press led the European output of printed books to increase from 25 million in the 15th century to almost 1 billion by the 18th century.
[1] Authors were now able to see their works being shared across the world, and multiplied into hundreds of thousands of copies, whilst readers were able to share their reading experiences with each other readers who read another copy of the same book.
We are at the pinnacle of technological and social advancements, and yet are condescended by “older generations” as the generation who reads the least, and rather spends time surfing the web, and accessing other entertaining forms of media, and technology. We are criticized so much that it is even feared that we will be the generation who “destroys” our languages through the use of “incorrect” abbreviations and neologisms, and this fear has only gotten worse as the Oxford Dictionary has officially added the words “lolz” and “mwahaha” to their list.
Let me make it clear that we are currently at the golden age of reading, as we have more and more platforms through which to engage the readers in us. Furthermore new platforms such as Tablet PCs, computers and kindles offer a more user-rich experience for the readers as they are now also able to interact with the texts they read by adding digital comments or searching online for interpretations and analysis of these
texts.
At first it may sound absurd that internet slang has been officially recognized, by the most popular English dictionary in the world, as being part of the English language, but then we must remember that all languages evolve along time, and it are those that try to resist change that don’t last long. For a language to survive through the ages, it must be able to transform according to the needs of its users, as the most elementary purpose of language is to serve as an efficient form of communication.

--old:
Having access to multiple forms of technologies such as computers, the internet, tablet pcs, e-readers, mobile phones and audio players, we are bound to not have time, or rather the patience to pick up a traditional book and read it.
In today’s age, we have become more and more demanding of interactive tasks, which is why we may feel that a book is too stagnant and less conveying than other forms of modern media. The “older generations” understand this, up to an extent, but then go onto think that the other forms of media, such as social networks, video sharing sites and digital devices distract us from the task of reading and get us hooked onto unproductive and non-beneficial tasks such as chatting, blogging, and social networking. This is not untrue, but it must be understood that these tasks consist of exchange of information which is done through reading and writing (or typing) which inevitably improves one’s proficiency in
communication.
Social networking and blogging are extremely popular platforms in today’s age. People thrive to be the first to see something and share it with their social circle, whilst constantly checking what others have found and are sharing themselves. Information is being shared around the world at a faster rate and larger quantity than ever before. This information is read, and understood before being sent to another recipient and this is one of the forms through which our generation continues to read.
In addition, we read more and more e-books, be it on our tablet pcs, computers or kindles. These platforms provide a more interactive experience for the reader, whilst simultaneously emulating the function of a traditional book. Such developments in technology only add to the number of readers across the world, as it allows rapid sharing of information as well as an improved reader experience. Furthermore, it allows for a large collection of books to be carried around in a portable manner, while the carrier does not feel the actual weight of these books also.
Before the Guttenberg press, reading was only for the wealthy, as all written works were done so manually, and making a single copy of each work would take ages. Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized the idea of printing works of art, which led the European output of printed books to increase from 25 million in the 15th century to almost 1 billion by the 18th century. [1]

1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:European_Output_of_Printed_Books_ca._1450%E2%80%931800.png