Kindle hinders literary snobbism

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by timezone

I thought it was an interesting read because for me it was about technology and how it changes us. While I totally am immersed in technology and a bit of the gadget guy, I can appreciate both sides of the coin. I do believe technology improves our lives but each turn of the screw is another step away from our connectedness with other people. IM, email and forums in one way can bring people from around the world together. While at the same time separate us from those across the street or in another office or cube in the work place. Of course the same can be said of the telephone or even snail mail. Technology masks who we are and that was the import of the article. Maybe a small thing to say I am now unable to measure a person by their bookcase or discover an author by noticing a book someone is holding. But, if taken together with all the other things we use to notice or do before computers, cell phones, etc, we might discover a big hole where once we use to define who we are as a society or people.

Does technology just change our point of view or does it chip away our humanity?

interesting perspective timezone. too bad the article didn't delve any deeper ; it could have raised some more interesting questions.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by timezone

Does technology just change our point of view or does it chip away our humanity?

Technology is simply a tool. It is in how it is used that defines the user. If you are not talking to your neighbor, the removal of e-mail from your life is not likely to change that.

As far as the NYT is concerned: Someone kindly lead them down into the valley, so we can start the wildebeast stampede already.

[Gideon]

I think there's a lot to be said regarding Timezone's comment. Not in the Times article, unfortunately.... But for those dismissing the point of view that our technology effects us I would refer you to the book "Technopoly" by Neil Postman or the work of Marshall McLuhan.

Saying that we are changed or modified by technology isn't saying such a thing is necessarily negative, but it absolutely does change us. And not always for the best.

You may have heard the story about the village in Africa where the women went a very long way to get water every day. A relief organization came in and dug a well so that they could easily access water in the village without spending a lot of time doing it. The villages cohesion began to break down, people were fighting, things were going badly... after some investigation it was clear that the reason was that when the women were going to get water they spent a lot of time talking and working out the problems of the village (interpersonal problems, etc) and without this conduit interpersonal problems were soon getting out of hand.

Also... for something less anecdotal... history is quite clear. The printing press changed EVERYTHING. And writing itself changed things.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by timezone

I thought it was an interesting read because for me it was about technology and how it changes us.

I think there's a valid point to be made with that. Technology changes us in all kinds of ways -- not all of them obvious. Unfortunately, the author never really tried to make that point. Instead, she took an incredibly superficial view of reading, and expounded on that for the entire article.

This seems to be the crux of her concern:

Originally Posted by Joanne Kaufman

But for the purpose of sizing up a stranger from afar, perhaps the biggest problem with Kindle or its kin is the camouflage factor: when no one can tell what you’re reading, how can you make it clear that you’re poring over the new Lincoln biography as opposed to, say, “He’s Just Not That Into You”?

That's why I think the article is a waste of bandwidth and ink.

In terms of how the technology will change reading, I think a much more interesting change will be an immense explosion of knowledge. People buying electronic readers naturally gravitate towards the free sources of books, and a lot of these are either literary classics or histories. Exposure to that kind of material can't be a bad thing, and the ability to download direct to your hands could possibly have the kind of effect that the printing press had, for the same reason: You're taking what is normally scarce knowledge that you have to ferret out yourself, and you're distributing it on very large scales. This is something that the Web did already, of course, but with an e-reader, it's that much more accessible to the reader, and it's retainable for later, portable use.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

In truth, there's only one way to really know what someone is reading on a digital reader.

Ask them.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

In truth, there's only one way to really know what someone is reading on a digital reader.

Ask them.

And Voila! Technology, for once, brings people together, rather than the usual isolating.

[desertgrandma]

For once, I agree with Steve.

It sounds like this person would only talk to those who are reading, and reading something she would like.

So, perhaps technology will instigate more actual human interaction.

Like speaking to others, instead of sneaking peaks at their books! What a concept!

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

For once, I agree with Steve.

It sounds like this person would only talk to those who are reading, and reading something she would like.

So, perhaps technology will instigate more actual human interaction.

Like speaking to others, instead of sneaking peaks at their books! What a concept!

Except I don't want people to talk to me while I am reading.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Except I don't want people to talk to me while I am reading.

And I am sure by your attitude you would let them know.

Others, however, might not mind the intrusion..........

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Except I don't want people to talk to me while I am reading.

Too right. That's the real reason I used to buy hardbacks - sufficient weight to knock the gawking, gregarious galahs unconscious. If I wanted some kind of social intercourse I'd remove my neurotic, introverted personality and replace it with that of my idiotically loquacious microwave ("FINISHED. ENJOY YOUR MEAL!" my arse! I just nuked a meat pie into cardboard and chewable meat "gravy", you smug, punctilious bastiche!).

Cheers,
Marc

[astra]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Except I don't want people to talk to me while I am reading.

Did you ever wonder what type of people tried to talk to you when you were reading?
*hint* 2 very good examples above

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by astra

Did you ever wonder what type of people tried to talk to you when you were reading?
*hint* 2 very good examples above

If you refer to me, how does that make sense, and what do you mean by it? I dislike being interrupted while reading, being someone of extremely single-minded concentration; naturally, I apply the same approach to others when they're reading, on the premise that it's best to err on the side of absence than annoyance. Thus, why would I try to talk to someone like Nate while they were reading? What "type" of person am I?

Cheers,
Marc

[taosaur]

People of the future will use their houses for living in, and Facebook for telling people what they've read.

It does eliminate a certain social dimension in terms of hospitality--having or being a houseguest, or lending or being loaned a book at a dinner party. We'll find new ways of sharing, I'm sure, whether it suits the publishers' terms of use or not.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

And I am sure by your attitude you would let them know.

I was probably too harsh before. I don't mind being interrupted to discuss certain book or a gadget. I like discussions. It's just that when the other person has all the questions it feels like an interrogation. I'd much rather get back to reading.

There were a number of times late last summer where I was asked lots of questions by curious tour guides with the National Park Service. I was in the middle of the latest David Weber novel and was dying to find out what happened next.

[DixieGal]

Introverts!

This is an honest question, probing that disturbing mind...

If you were reading in a cafe or park bench at lunchtime, and if Tim and I sat down beside you, all nice and friendly and smililng, and pointed at your reader while saying, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours," how would you feel?

I ask, because this scenario is likely to happen. Would an introvert feel intruded upon, angry, glad to chat about a common interest, or backed into a corner by two happy extroverts? I'd like to know, because for one thing, I would never want to make someone feel threatened or anything.

In my extrovert mind... disturbing also... I would welcome such an intrusion.