E-Books Make Readers Less Isolated

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

Looked like nonsense to me. Of course people will approach you when you have a New Shiny Thing like an iPad that is being heavily hyped.

How very "un-British" . Talking to strangers is something that people just don't do here. I've never been asked about my book readers by strangers, although I do find that when I go away on holiday (cruises, etc) other people do take an interest in what it is.

[suecsi]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How very "un-British" . Talking to strangers is something that people just don't do here. I've never been asked about my book readers by strangers, although I do find that when I go away on holiday (cruises, etc) other people do take an interest in what it is.

and I have read in lots of cafes in Central London where one would possibly expect to see book readers in the wild - though there is usually a large population of tame Apple laptops glowing away .....

Bizarrely enough the single lone time I have been asked was when I was sitting in Starbucks in Holborn, killing time on the way to the filming of the try out of the new Kindle 3 back in July. I didn't see the person who asked me at the filming though.

And the person who asked wasn't a Brit anyway - hardly anyone is in that area unless you hit the lunchtime rush from the legal offices - as it is close to tourist areas.

[Sweetpea]

Nobody ever asked about any electronic device I used to read with. Never even seen anybody turn his or her head to look again.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Nobody ever asked about any electronic device I used to read with. Never even seen anybody turn his or her head to look again.

Many, many years ago, long before ebook readers became "consumer items" I was reading something on a Pocket PC, and was deeply offended when someone asked me what game I was playing .

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Many, many years ago, long before ebook readers became "consumer items" I was reading something on a Pocket PC, and was deeply offended when someone asked me what game I was playing .

Did you hold up one finger to indicate that they should wait until you were done?

[Juliette]

I'd say no, really. With a Pbook you show the cover and practically everybody knows what are you reading (and you feel judged- by the cover ). With the reader you are more isolated from comments, unless it's "shiiiiny, what's that?". What you're reading is really just your business. (at last!)

[Salgueiros]

I think the assumption the author made in the article is wrong. The basic and common action between reading in a liseuse and reading in a paper book is exactly reading.

Most of the "social interaction" the author signals, come from the curiosity about the device itself and not about anything related with the act of reading, so whenever the novelty factor about using liseuses for reading wanes out, and these devices are incorporated in the collective basic recognizable culture people will realize that whoever is using it is reading something and will adopt the same attitude people do to whoever reads a paper book today in public.

I never thought that reading could be thought at stigmatizing... i always thought reading was a noble act. Something i want to aspire to, not feel afraid of, so the mental framework on the basis of this article is a bit foreign to me.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by Salgueiros

I think the assumption the author made in the article is wrong. The basic and common action between reading in a liseuse and reading in a paper book is exactly reading.

Most of the "social interaction" the author signals, come from the curiosity about the device itself and not about anything related with the act of reading, so whenever the novelty factor about using liseuses for reading wanes out, and these devices are incorporated in the collective basic recognizable culture people will realize that whoever is using it is reading something and will adopt the same attitude people do to whoever reads a paper book today in public.

I never thought that reading could be thought at stigmatizing... i always thought reading was a noble act. Something i want to aspire to, not feel afraid of, so the mental framework on the basis of this article is a bit foreign to me.

Oh well, you're in Canada. There's been an ongoing and growing prejudice against intellectualism here in America for oh, the last 10 years or so.

But we love our shiny toys, so maybe the marriage of tech and intellectual pursuits might take the 'stigma' out.

Not that I care - I've always read in public.

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by khalleron

Oh well, you're in Canada. There's been an ongoing and growing prejudice against intellectualism here in America for oh, the last 10 years or so.

You must be very young.

But like you, I'll read in public. Especially in restaurants, but also, if the book was very good, in theaters while waiting for the show to start. If I don't have company, I read.


Lets break it down. If you were cool, like "us", you would want to hang around and play with "us". So you ain't cool, like "us".

Would you let a child of yours read in public? Why stigmatize them?

[John K]

Sounds like the stigmatization of introversion to me. Here is a link to a short blog article in Psychology Today on the topic: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...-unite-quietly

Off topic... I was unfamiliar with the word liseuse used by Salgueiros so I did a Bing search. The number two listing was from mobileRead wiki!

[corona]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

But like you, I'll read in public. Especially in restaurants, but also, if the book was very good, in theaters while waiting for the show to start. If I don't have company, I read.

Oh I am much worse now with my e-reader. I read while I'm _walking_. And actually, one thing I like about the Kobo is that it's very easy to prop up while I'm eating. That's a terrible confession to make, but unless I've got company, I always read while I eat.

I've been asked about my Kobo a few times. (I'm on the West Coast, after all.)

[SensualPoet]

LOL. I saw someone walking and reading a Kobo on Yonge St in downtown Toronto near Carlton the other day ... was that you?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by corona

That's a terrible confession to make, but unless I've got company, I always read while I eat.

What's wrong with that?

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by corona

I always read while I eat.

I always use chopsticks in Chinese restaurants and it never slows me down in reading or eating.

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How very "un-British" . Talking to strangers is something that people just don't do here. I've never been asked about my book readers by strangers, although I do find that when I go away on holiday (cruises, etc) other people do take an interest in what it is.

Eh, obviously a regional thing. Here, most folks will strike up a conversation with a lamppost.

(And by here, I mean specifically the southern United States. I don't think that it necessarily holds true in every part of the country. Lampposts can go about their business unmolested in New York City, I'll bet.)