Books Vs TV – Why TV Cannot Offer as Much as a Book
TV is the favourite form entertainment and relaxation for most people as hundreds of channels available offer something for everyone 24 hours a day. For that reason many people prefer to turn the TV on and watch a good movie or two rather than opening a book. There is nothing wrong with TV neither as entertainment nor educational media but it cannot offer as much as book in any aspect. Not only books remain the primary source of knowledge but the experience they provide cannot be compared to electronic media.
The ability to choose the topic of interest is one of the main advantages of books in compare to TV. Sure, there is always something to watch on TV that meets just about everyone’s taste but it does not offer as much choice as books. For instance, you can select a book according to the author, topic, genre, etc. None of those things are available when turning your TV on unless you have a cinematheque. But even then you may not be able to find what you are looking for.
The second and perhaps even more important advantage of books over TV is incomparably larger amount of information just about anything you might be interested in. Books were always the primary source of knowledge and no other media has come even close so far, not even the Internet. The true knowledge continues to be spread through books and it seems that it will continue in the future as well.
Another advantage of books in compare to television is the depth they provide. The thing is, that information on TV is limited by time which means that it cannot reach the depth of a book which has no such limits. A TV program therefore never provides as much information as a book on the same topic. The author of a book can dedicate the entire chapters on topics which are barely mentioned or completely left out on TV. The information on TV also tends to target a wider audience and what is worse, often focuses on sensational information on the expense of those that really matter just to improve their ratings.
Mobility and time flexibility are two further elements that are offered by books and absent when it comes to TV. The latter forces you choose between a living room and enjoying outdoors, while the book enables you to enjoy the fresh air while reading. What is more, it allows the readers to determine when they want to read and for how long. The TV viewers, on the other hand, do not have that option because the TV station decides when is what broadcasted.
The last but not the least important advantage is the experience itself, especially when it comes to literary works. The book allows the readers to use their imagination and create their own image about how the main character should look like, for instance. TV does not give that option because the choice is made by someone else.