This is kinda like saying a movie based on a book will get kids to read. It might. Or they might just skip the book.
If 10% changed reading habits that is a big change because those 10% can influence peers through the copy cat effect.
How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
71–80 of 88 posts
Re: How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But now a year later I've never read any paper books, all the books I've read are ebooks. This is the most mind-blowing thing I've read on HN. It really makes me appreciate generational differences.
I'm around 40 and haven't read a physical book since the Kindle came out. Same goes for most the people around me (including parents and older friends). I think I know one single person who reads physical books, and they're a collector/enthusiast. I don't think it's generational rather just some people "clicked" with ebooks and some didn't. I couldn't live without search, saving passages, device handover, hold-click…
The ability to get so many books I never knew existed made me switch. I still prefer a book but the advantages of ebooks starts to outweigh the book. Ebooks have less of value/worth, not sure why. They feel more generic because the ereader presents content the same way. Carrying a book could lead to a chance encounter with someone who was reading the same book the way music t-shirts could connect similiar strangers in a large crowd.
Re: How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Screens are even more addictive than books. My 1.5 year old shuts off completely whenever he can get access to a screen, it is amazing and scary. He likes books also, but is much more engaged with them. Screen time is probably a top issue for parenting today.
Current pedagogical advise is to keep children under 2 away from screens, period. Presumably because they are much more affected by them. Does you kid gain access to a screen accidentally or is it something you employ as an emergency pacifier on rare occasions?
Accidentally for sure. He is only 18 months old! We don’t even have a TV.
Re: How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But now a year later I've never read any paper books, all the books I've read are ebooks. This is the most mind-blowing thing I've read on HN. It really makes me appreciate generational differences.
I'm around 40 and haven't read a physical book since the Kindle came out. Same goes for most the people around me (including parents and older friends). I think I know one single person who reads physical books, and they're a collector/enthusiast. I don't think it's generational rather just some people "clicked" with ebooks and some didn't. I couldn't live without search, saving passages, device handover, hold-click…
I also never looked back after discovering Kindle.
Features I cannot live without are adjustable font size, the backlight (can only speak for PaperWhite model) and the builtin book-store.
Re: How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everything in moderation. Such as stopping your 11 y/o kid from playing runescape at 2am when they should be sleeping. Source: Me.
Yes ! Stopping kids from staying up at night is the funniest game though. The length each party is willing to go to one-up the each other is where you truely get to know each other.
When my husband was a kid, he kept a broken console on hand so that when his dad caught him gaming in bed, he could turn over the broken one and keep playing the real one when his dad left.
Re: How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
#76This is kinda like saying a movie based on a book will get kids to read. It might. Or they might just skip the book.
with lord of the rings and starwars this was absolutely true for me. however one cannot compare movies with video games. as the book introduces the story like q bqckground info and the 3d world allows for exploration and creatively extending the story alone or with friends...
Re: How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
#77Realy though I wish that there was something like minecraft, but with an RTS-style disembodied god-view camera, with zoom, pan and rotate, which I think will make building things much more painless. Perhaps some mods can approximate that, but if there was something build up from the beginning for such an interface it would be a nicer thing to have for people who would rather build than walk around catching the scener…
Not exactly what you wanted, but in Cube 2: Sauerbraten http://sauerbraten.org/ (open source) you can easily edit rooms in god view, and then use the map for a first-person shooter.
Re: How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
#78Whenever I'm in a bookstore I am amazed at the sheer number of official and unofficial Minecraft books. I suppose someone must be buying them of they wouldn't be making more of them. That being said, I'm skeptical that making book-related things in Minecraft will encourage reading any more than Second Life did.
I remember being motivated to read endless crappy Pokémon books churned out in the 90’s, this is probably no different. It worked for me.
I read a lot of those pokemon books as a kid as well, and I agree that they provide some motivation.
But watch out for recent unofficial books, specifically the "Diary of a " series (which I think got C&D'd, because they changed all the cover art and replaced the pokemon names with generic animal substitutes). It's pretty enjoyable to make fun of, but probably not the best for kids to read.
https://www.amazon.com/Diary-Farting-Pika-Animal-Book-ebook/...
Re: How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you haven't already, why not get (or ask for) an e-reader with an e-ink display? Reading from paper or e-ink is a lot less detrimental to your eyesight. When reading in the evenings that has the benefit of not affecting your circadian rhythm as much (which normal screens tend to do).
I'm a bit skeptical of many of the claims that paper or e-ink in the evening has less effect on circadian rhythms than a normal screen does. What would be the mechanism for this? One claim I've seen is that it is because they are frontlit rather than backlit. But to the photosensor cells that sense the light and report to the parts of the brain that control circadian rhythms, it should just be frequency and intensity…
All I can say is if I read from my iPad or iPhone in bed, it can keep me up nearly indefinitely. If I read in my e-ink Kindle with a front light, I will get so sleepy so fast I can only get through a few pages each night.
Re: How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm around 40 and haven't read a physical book since the Kindle came out. Same goes for most the people around me (including parents and older friends). I think I know one single person who reads physical books, and they're a collector/enthusiast. I don't think it's generational rather just some people "clicked" with ebooks and some didn't. I couldn't live without search, saving passages, device handover, hold-click…
I really don't care for all the ebook features you mentioned, I just like the convenience and lack of weight of having hundreds of books in your pocket. I do like the feel of a real book when actually reading it but don't mind reading books on my phone either.
I don't find there is that much convenience on having "hundreds of books in your pocket". Unlike music or films/series, most people are never reading more than two or perhaps three books at the same time and most books take days or weeks to finish (unless you are reading full time). Carrying a kindle is not that much more convenient than carrying a pocket book...