Switched On: e-readers drive to digital distraction

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

This is the thing, you don't "have to". So what if you get a notification? If somebody sends you an email, they shouldn't expect you to answer immediately, if it is something urgent, they would use the phone anyway. There is absolutely no reason to feel the need to check if anything has happened.

It is not a need. It is an excuse to do something that gives you an immediate gratification.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by tompe

It is not a need. It is an excuse to do something that gives you an immediate gratification.

Reading does that for me. I also read an interesting article on the subject last week.

[Aladyleyna]

At the end of the day,

the exercise of electronic book reading will require the exercise of self-discipline.

And that is pretty much what I feel on the subject as well. Whether with a multi purpose device or a dedicated ebook reader, reading still requires some sort of discipline, thought is admittedly easier for people who do enjoy reading. At the end of the day, there will always be distractions anyway, one doesn't need a multi-purpose devise to be distracted from reading.

Personally, I like to take breaks between reading, otherwise I'll just get extremely sleepy and loose the urge to read. Which is why a multi-purpose device seems more suited for me. Angry Birds, here I come!

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I think that it is the same kind of argument as I heard about bags of chips. Some people just feel compelled to eat them if they are in the same room.

Hmm. To add to the pile of anecdata, I keep snacks in my desk in case I need something to eat and forget to bring my lunch (or a big enough lunch).

Several of my co-workers have expressed surprise, and stated that they "can't" keep snacks in their desk, or they'd have everything eaten by the end of the day. I'm skeptical about this, but I'm not one to argue.

For myself, I'm deliberately an "intuitive eater", which generally starts out with "I CAN EAT ANYTHING I WANT WHENEVER I WANT?? TWINKIES BOX, HERE I COME" and eventually stabilizes into genuinely only eating when hungry because there's no longer any reward/guilt dings associated with the food.

Maybe, in context of this conversation, there are "intuitive readers"??? Not sure that the analogy isn't stretching it, though. Someone call the Analogy Police.

[witeowl]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

...if it is something urgent, they would use the phone anyway...

So one might think. This story, however, shows us that the world is changing.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Aladyleyna

At the end of the day,

And that is pretty much what I feel on the subject as well. Whether with a multi purpose device or a dedicated ebook reader, reading still requires some sort of discipline, thought is admittedly easier for people who do enjoy reading. At the end of the day, there will always be distractions anyway, one doesn't need a multi-purpose devise to be distracted from reading.

Exactly. You will still get distracted if you choose to let yourself be distracted. Even when you're reading dt books, you could always find something that you can do instead.

Originally Posted by anamardoll

To add to the pile of anecdata, I keep snacks in my desk in case I need something to eat and forget to bring my lunch (or a big enough lunch).

Several of my co-workers have expressed surprise, and stated that they "can't" keep snacks in their desk, or they'd have everything eaten by the end of the day. I'm skeptical about this, but I'm not one to argue.

For myself, I'm deliberately an "intuitive eater", which generally starts out with "I CAN EAT ANYTHING I WANT WHENEVER I WANT?? TWINKIES BOX, HERE I COME" and eventually stabilizes into genuinely only eating when hungry because there's no longer any reward/guilt dings associated with the food.

Lol, same here. I've got, maybe 5~10 different snacks in my desk for when I get hungry. Like with my library, though, I sometimes find myself not having anything I want to eat at the moment. Right now, I've got 4 opened bags of snacks that are unfinished. Hmm, I guess I'm as picky with food as I am with reading material. Maybe even pickier.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

+1. I find myself more distracted by other books (often hopping through different genres) than playing games, surfing the web or checking emails. Oh well, that's one of the reasons I have an ebook reader - so I have pretty much my entire library available at my disposal and have books available in whatever genre I'm currently in the mood reading.

+1 I'm a chain reader. Finish one, move right along to the next one. My biggest tripping point with my now extensive library and instant gratification possibilities is to keep myself from reading straight through a new-to-me series and then having to wait a year for the next book! So I try to break it up but there are a few series I just cannot wait to read, such as Maggie Sefton's Kelly Flynn series, Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series, and the Dresden books. Actually I should probably start a Dresden re-read from the beginning now that the new one will be out next month. Refresh my memory...

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

+1 I'm a chain reader. Finish one, move right along to the next one. My biggest tripping point with my now extensive library and instant gratification possibilities is to keep myself from reading straight through a new-to-me series and then having to wait a year for the next book!

Yeah, I absolutely hate having to wait, too. Thankfully, nearly all the series I read are pretty old and were already finished by the time I started reading them (Foundation, Empire, Robot, Shannara, Belgariad, Malloreon, Icewind Dale, etc). The only two series that I followed and have had to wait for books to come out are Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl.

[b0ned0me]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

Very perplexing article.
...
"Just as for the passionate pro photographer who must now decide when to capture a still versus video, the exercise of electronic book reading will require the exercise of self-discipline."

Very perplexing is one way of putting it. Complete drivel would be another.
'Passionate pro photographers' (as opposed to passionate amateur photographers) are people who get paid by others to take photos. If they are increasingly being asked to do video shoots rather than still photo shoots, then they need to decide whether they wish to be unemployed still photographers or employed videographers, and he claims that many are stocking up on the equipment to continue earning a living. OK, if that's true it may be interesting but what relevance does it have to reading?

Originally Posted by Ross Rubin

passionate pro photographer who must now decide when to capture a still versus video

Perhaps it's the passion that makes it difficult. I suspect most ordinary pro photographers would just shoot whatever they think their client wants.

His earlier (and completely unrelated) point that multi-function smartphones have eaten the low-end single-purpose camera market is more relevant, but that's hardly a staggeringly novel insight.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by tompe

Yes. Or in my case there is some notification when you read so you have to check twitter, facebook, gtalk or email.

See, that's one of several practical reasons to turn off Wi-Fi when you're reading. It not only prevents notifications and saves battery, it adds an extra step that may be enough to discourage the monkey-brain from running off and poking at things. I've gotten in the habit of leaving Wi-Fi off on my NC whenever I'm not expressly using the internet.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Yeah, I absolutely hate having to wait, too. Thankfully, nearly all the series I read are pretty old and were already finished by the time I started reading them (Foundation, Empire, Robot, Shannara, Belgariad, Malloreon, Icewind Dale, etc). The only two series that I followed and have had to wait for books to come out are Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl.

Hrrm, wikipedia says there's yet another Shannara trilogy set to start next year. I suspect they will continue so long as Brooks is alive and has a bank account.

I've been using the audiobooks as a bedtime story for probably a year now. Listening chronologically, I'm on the last book of the Heritage series, which will have me caught up to the point I read as a teenager and still leaves two finished trilogies and one planned to go.

[Freeshadow]

In my case it's rather that a good book distracts me from doing numerous other things before I finished it than the other way around.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

In my case it's rather that a good book distracts me from doing numerous other things before I finished it than the other way around.

indeed xP

[Ditchleyportrait]

are dedicated ereaders like typewriters? i think e-ink, assuming that's part and parcel of what he means by "e-paper", is something special, and i wonder if it will indeed be superseded by something more adaptable, feature capable, and that is and cheaper to produce.