Is the pen mightier than the sword? Not if you’re playing Dragon Ball on the iPad.

It depends if that sword is upgraded in the Dragon Ball app …

The app promotes, “Epic battles at your fingertips!” Wait, books can offer that, too, right? Hello? Echo?

When are you deeper into the story? When you’re playing it or when you’re reading it? When are you lost in time? Lost in space? When do you have no idea where you are and where reality is? Is that with a game where you’re controlling the hero or when you’re reading about the hero?

“The blistering action will leave you breathless.” says the bolded text on the cover of the app.

I suppose, as with anything, it depends on:

1. How well the app and the user experience is designed. Versus:
2. How well the book is written and the characters is described.

But which is the kid going to like more? Why can’t the kid experience both and compare? Forget comparison, let them be different experiences and let the child experience both.

We might:

1. Play basketball with friends on the playground,
2. Play basketball with friends on the PS4,
3. Watch pro basketball and
4. Read about basketball (either in the news or a book about a coach (e.g. John Wooden)).

That’s all OK. It can all work. We don’t have to do one or the other. But doing “the other” might help us understand a different aspect or perspective about the topic. In basketball, I see it all the time: my son is an excellent free throw shooter … on the PS4. But he’ll make fun of how bad Dwight Howard is (57%, which in the NBA is indeed terrible) until we get out onto the playground and I think my son is averaging about 50%. He doesn’t make fun of Dwight Howard anymore.

So can the book give you “epic battles at your fingertips”? Absolutely. But it’s going to make it all the better if you can also slay a few dragons on the screen and then exponentially better if you can find a few dragons in real life to stare down and slay with your sword. Good luck with that. After a few fireballs down your neck, let’s see if you still think your character is such a slouch.