Have ebooks changed your reading habits?

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I am deeply embarrassed to admit that I've been known to use the verb "dial" to describe the process of entering a telephone number on a telephone which doesn't have a dial .

Strangely, it was just last week that I was talking to someone about what the chances were of a teenager working out how to use a dial phone and who they would call as no one knows any phone numbers anymore.

I don't even know what verbs should be used for some things anymore, I seem to 'switch on' or 'turn on' a lot of things that no longer have a switch or knobDial.

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I am deeply embarrassed to admit that I've been known to use the verb "dial" to describe the process of entering a telephone number on a telephone which doesn't have a dial .

I use the word "dial" too. Even if all I am doing is selecting the person on my contact list to text them!

I also use the phrase "broken record", certain that many of the hearers have never heard a record, let alone a broken one

[cromag]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

I use the word "dial" too. Even if all I am doing is selecting the person on my contact list to text them!

I also use the phrase "broken record", certain that many of the hearers have never heard a record, let alone a broken one

You mean those old, vinyl records, that used to rotate in a "clockwise" fashion?

[Apache]

Originally Posted by cromag

You mean those old, vinyl records, that used to rotate in a "clockwise" fashion?

Unless you were rotating them counter clockwise looking for hidden messages.
Apache

[disconnected]

I'm one of those people that can't seem to listen to audiobooks. My mind wanders within 30 seconds or something about the reader's voice or manner of speaking annoys or distracts me.

My eyes are still good enough for actually reading but I've wondered if getting used to TTS might be easier than getting used to audiobooks. The "sameness" of the delivery of the words might make it necessary for the brain to interpret the heard words in somewhat the same way as it does of the read words, unlike an audio book which tries to do some of the interpretation for you.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

For me personally, the mental imagery I get when I read a book myself (which is such an important part of reading - at least for me) just isn't there when I listen to someone else read the book to me. It's just a "blander" experience. I don't know if it's different for other people?

It is the same for me.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I'm one of those people that can't seem to listen to audiobooks. My mind wanders within 30 seconds or something about the reader's voice or manner of speaking annoys or distracts me.

Same here. It's funny, because I like OTR, dramatic radio plays. Yet listening to an audio book quickly fades into the background for me.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Same here. It's funny, because I like OTR, dramatic radio plays. Yet listening to an audio book quickly fades into the background for me.

Me, too, but the radio programs are usually a little less than thirty minutes long and I'm often writing an email or reading the news while I listen. I do love Old Time Radio.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Me, too, but the radio programs are usually a little less than thirty minutes long and I'm often writing an email or reading the news while I listen. I do love Old Time Radio.

There is another difference I think. In OTR the characters actively interact with each other in a way that you don't quite get with an audio book. And usually with an audio book it's just one person reading the text. Sometimes there are more but more often (at least what little I've heard) it is just one person.

[murg]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I am deeply embarrassed to admit that I've been known to use the verb "dial" to describe the process of entering a telephone number on a telephone which doesn't have a dial .

Does your phone also ring?

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by murg

Does your phone also ring?

And when you are finished talking, do you hang up?

[murg]

Originally Posted by icallaci

And when you are finished talking, do you hang up?

Yes. Then when I pick up the handset again, I get a dial tone.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I am deeply embarrassed to admit that I've been known to use the verb "dial" to describe the process of entering a telephone number on a telephone which doesn't have a dial .

Originally Posted by murg

Does your phone also ring?

Originally Posted by icallaci

And when you are finished talking, do you hang up?

Originally Posted by murg

Yes. Then when I pick up the handset again, I get a dial tone.

Now I'm confused about what people who have never seen or used the old telephones call all these things. You guys are making me feel old!

[murg]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Now I'm confused about what people who have never seen or used the old telephones call all these things. You guys are making me feel old!

These are the current words used.

Changes in technology, especially for long standing industries, are not always reflected new terms to describe the actions associated with that industry.

The phone industry has given us ring, dial, call, dial tone, tip and ring, answering machine, area code, and a plethora of other terms.

The film making industry still uses footage. Digital cameras still use film speed, F stops. You still snap a photo.

For cars, you can still crank the engine.

And with computers, you have thumb drives, floppy discs (which haven't been floppy for 30 years) and SSD drives.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by patrickt

One reads a book and the other listens to someone who can read, read the book to them. I suppose getting up, going to work, and getting a paycheck is the same as sitting in front of the television and getting a check from the government. .

Wow. Insulting much?

I don't use audiobooks much because I can't concentrate on listening for that length of time. But I've always considered this a failure on my own part. I didn't realize all this time I'm being industrious by reading. Where do I collect my paycheck?