Immersion

Late last week I became the proud owner of an e-reader (to be specific a nook—as a librarian the ability to lend—though very limited—books to others appeals to me), and I began thinking. E-Book or physical book (shall we call it a i-book—ink-book?), is there some over whelming advantage to one over the other? While that thought did not really go anywhere I began to think about immersion.
 
Immersion is something that gets tossed about with respect to game environments, but I feel it adequately belongs in any technological discussion. What do I mean by immersion? With respect to this discussion I say immersion should be a measurement by which the medium of presentation disappears (or ceases to be acknowledged consciously during the enjoyment of said presentation). The clearest example of what I am trying to explain is  when you get so involved in a book you do not realize you are turning pages. In that example that would be the highlest level of immersion for printed material.   Some mediums can achieve this easier than others, TV’s, for example, are so passive that it is easier to disregard the medium while enjoying the product.
 
Returning to the e-reader and its e-ink display for a moment. I do find it harder to enjoy what I am reading, mainly due to the method of page turning. The screen darkens for a moment and the next page is turned. I am not saying that this is negative, only that it is harder to achieve that highest level of immersion with this medium then it is in a i-book. The writing has to be better. I am not suggesting that e-readers will lead to better writing (as I doubt this “darkening” always be a part of e-readers). I assume there are people out there that this effect does not lessen their enjoyment of reading, and it is possible as I adjust to reading on this device that I will no longer notice the page refresh.
 
Immersion, or whatever term comes to be used, will likely become an important factor in the development of our technological interfaces. Consider the debate currently brewing over what the internet may or may not be doing to our brains and our cognitive ability.  (Nicolas Carr vs Stephen Pinker ) Our ability to think on a deeper level may be affected by the shallow skimming encouraged by web browsing, though maybe not. If it is then being able to get deeply involved in the presentation becomes crucial to the development of our interfaces to insure strong cognitive skills. If not, it is still important to enhance our enjoyment of said presentation. Communicating from my experience I enjoy reading, game playing, learning, and so forth more if I am more deeply immersed.
 
Regardless of my final opinion of the nook, it is a great way to store all those pdf manuals as well as the large free e-book marketplace.