[mdp]

I equipped my car, convertible, with a flat-even, well-matching-negative cushion on the backseats. I have (made) standard wadding-based pillows for support and polyesterene granule based - Gatto-Teodoro-Paolini like - pillows for fitting. It is a portable sofa to bring around for quiet, scenery and good air.
I fully trust that it is a good idea to go and read in "good spots". Air quality is an important factor. Indoors pollution can be orders of magnitude higher than outdoors pollution in general - even ruling out extremes. And indoors pollution can impact cognitive abilities.
As you move around in such a setup, it becomes evident how difficult it can be to find shade. You get to know your extended territory to find matches to all the requirements for a good spot.

Originally Posted by issybird

But:

> and some nice quiet music playing in the background

No, just no. "Quiet music" is an oxymoron and always a distraction. I can read or I can listen; I can't do both. I hope if anyone else is in earshot you're wearing earbuds or headphones. Because being forced to listen to someone else's idea of background music is my idea of torture.

I *so* much agree with this one...

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Having to hear loud music in 99% of stores is one reason I don't like to shop and we rarely go to restaurants because of the same issue

Brother/Sister!!! This was my lunchtime coversation today:
Me: «You did not have diffusion in the dehors before...»
Waitress [cheerful]: «Yes, it's new! Do you like it?»
Me: «It's a torture.»
Wairess [frozen]: «Ah. People ask for it...»
Me: «They are fools.»

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I use music to block out loud conversation around me when I read or am trying to focus on tasks such as programming. In a perfect world, [...]

Have you tried pink noise?
EDIT: I see (also given the post by haertig, which I initially missed) that the definition I had of "pink noise" is not the official one, which is frequency based. What I meant is, instead of white noise, intended as completely random, partially timbric noise, only "halfway" random.

Originally Posted by HarryT

I really don’t think it’s possible to answer the OP’s question - ie provide a numerical figure for the number of people who read outside. Stating whether or not each of us as individuals read outside or not doesn’t bring us any closer to knowing how many people read outside.

Maybe nobody should be allowed to leave the room until the matter is settled, but the results would just be a preliminary gross divide.
Nonetheless, does not the phpbb engine offer the option for posting surveys?