07-04-2013, 08:03 AM | #16 |
Guru
Posts: 989
Karma: 5782970
Join Date: Jul 2010
Device: Scribe,Kindle Oasis 3, iPad Pro 11, iPhone 13 Pro Max,iPad mini 6, PW5
|
I think in Japan and Korea people spend a lot of time on the internet/using computers. Computers/internet is a lot more advanced out there than it is in the west.
|
07-04-2013, 08:18 AM | #17 | |
Enthusiast
Posts: 46
Karma: 551030
Join Date: Jun 2013
Device: Sony PRS-T2, Kindle PW2, Kobo Aura
|
Quote:
The literacy rate in India may only be 61%, I actually suspect it’s probably much lower than that, you need to consider that that is 61% of what is probably by now more than a billion people. That’s 610 million literate people, just under twice the total population of the USA and 10 times the population of the UK. Most of those people won't have the modern distractions those two developed countries have. Factor in the poverty, the variable electricity infrastructure and power outages and lack of power in many rural areas, the lack of affordability of televisions, games consoles, DVDs, internet etc for large swathes of the population and it becomes fairly self evident how India could quite easily top that list. |
|
07-04-2013, 08:55 AM | #18 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,820
Karma: 9503859
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: France
Device: (Sony (J) PRS 650), Kobo Mini, Kobo Glo HD
|
The Japan number is very surprising. So many people read while commuting!
Big book stores as well as second hand book stores (Book Off) are everywhere and always packed with people. Also I've been told that when a book is a best seller, everyone will be soon reading it to be on the same level as everyone else (not said in an offensive way). And sure I have seen the same books in many hands and at several places. Of course I can only talk about big cities, more rural areas may be different. |
07-04-2013, 09:36 AM | #19 | |
Interested Bystander
Posts: 3,725
Karma: 19728152
Join Date: Jun 2008
Device: Note 4, Kobo One
|
Quote:
|
|
07-04-2013, 03:05 PM | #20 | |
Banned
Posts: 335
Karma: 1545924
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: India
Device: Kindle KB, Kindle PW
|
Quote:
Even at the time when they didn't have *many* *bookshops London/Paris?Berlin like* (rather narrow selection, don't you think?) I could find books in bookshops which I never even saw in Europe. All in English! And prices were oh so good, compared to beautiful European bookshops...I used to buy books, pay overweight when flying back home, and still get them cheaper than in Europe. Then, you have beautiful places where you can get second hand books, really old editions, great variety, again really really cheap. And I do believe much more people, thanks to that, read one copy of the book than anywhere in Europe. Plus, you still have (and I am talking about 10 years back) people selling pirated paper books on the streets. To the people in the cars. I would have to think that is a very good business, otherwise, there would be no street booksellers. Then, there are all the bookstores with owners working themselves in them, recommending you books, checking books out for you, ordering for you if they don't have them, calling you to tell you the book is there. They also since around 2007 had a company selling books online, free shipping, cash on delivery etc. And I am just speaking from an English speaker point of view. Imagine all the other languages It is entirely possible that India is on top. Why, they have more English language speakers than UK. I will not even comment Germany or France. So the English speakers here read a lot of books in original and do not have to wait for translation... |
|
07-04-2013, 04:03 PM | #21 | |
Enthusiast
Posts: 46
Karma: 551030
Join Date: Jun 2013
Device: Sony PRS-T2, Kindle PW2, Kobo Aura
|
Quote:
Agreed though that the lowish literacy rate is a red herring given the sheer numbers of people. |
|
07-04-2013, 04:43 PM | #22 |
Fanatic
Posts: 528
Karma: 2530000
Join Date: Dec 2010
Device: Sony PRS-T3, PRS-650, Vaio Tap 11, iPad Mini
|
jmilica
I don't doubt that there are many highly cultured people in India and many avid readers. Neither do I doubt that there are many places where you can get books. There are more than a billion people living there, after all. I also know plenty of young and well educated people from India and they are most certainly as keen on modern time wasters like the internet and mobile phones as their counterparts in the West. All the same, the figures don't add up. It is quite irrelevant if there are 1 million, 100 million or a billion people living in a country if you are looking at the average time spent by people on reading. What's not irrelevant is 40% of the population being illiterate. This means that the rest would - on average - have to be prodigious readers to achieve those high figures. How likely is that? Additionally, do you seriously believe that the people who do a lot of reading are those who are living in shacks with no modern conveniences? Reading is a decidedly middle class occupation the world over. |
07-04-2013, 04:46 PM | #23 |
affordable chipmunk
Posts: 1,290
Karma: 9863855
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Brazil
Device: Sony XPeria ZL, Kindle Paperwhite
|
LOL japan as low as brazil! can't be right
or perhaps they should allow for manga reading as book reading LOL |
07-04-2013, 04:49 PM | #24 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,305
Karma: 43993832
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Monroe Wisconsin
Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)
|
|
07-04-2013, 05:00 PM | #25 | |
IOC Chief Archivist
Posts: 3,950
Karma: 53868218
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA
Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12
|
Quote:
I'm guessing, if we were able to trace this all the way back to the original results (which I was unable to do, but it may be out there somewhere), it may turn out to be something like "of those who participated in the following activities..." or similar. |
|
07-04-2013, 06:45 PM | #26 | |
Great Old One
Posts: 189
Karma: 998538
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: L1 Orbit
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro, iPhone 8 Plus
|
Quote:
Nonetheless, I easily beat the Brazilian average. I'd guess that I spend 18-22 hours/week reading (not counting work-related reading). But I shouldn't trust my memory this much - maybe I'll do a time diary for a month or two... |
|
07-04-2013, 07:15 PM | #27 | |
Wizard
Posts: 4,812
Karma: 26912940
Join Date: Apr 2010
Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet
|
Quote:
Don't get me wrong, I love them, but after reading for several hours they will lull me off to sleep in 15 minutes or less. I have been watching Nero Wolf since March and I have still not seen it all. Helen |
|
07-04-2013, 07:58 PM | #28 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 7,032
Karma: 39379388
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: near Philadelphia USA
Device: Kindle Kids Edition, Fire HD 10 (11th generation)
|
Googling, I have been unable to find the methodology for this 2004-2005 survey. I think that's because this is market research where the full report is expensive.
The same outfit asks different questions every year, and if you look here, on the last page, the 2012 methodology is crypticly summarized: http://www.scribd.com/doc/99090098/2...World-Factbook For the more affluent countries, it appears to now to be an internet survey -- or maybe they are sampling everyone and excluding those who admit not to using the internet. For the less wealthy nations, there is an "SES exclusion." In other words, they don't interview villagers or slum dwellers. So they seem to be comparing affluent urbanites in China and India with average income people in western nations. Totally unclear, following links from the LA Times article, is whether the time estimates are for book reading, or all reading. Last edited by SteveEisenberg; 07-04-2013 at 10:08 PM. |
07-05-2013, 01:12 AM | #29 |
Inharmonious
Posts: 416
Karma: 2157616
Join Date: Jan 2013
Device: Sony PRS-950, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
|
In other words the survey says nothing whatsoever about national reading or media habits. It ought to have been labelled "We asked a few people around the world about their media habits and here is what they answered".
|
07-05-2013, 03:42 AM | #30 | |
Banned
Posts: 335
Karma: 1545924
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: India
Device: Kindle KB, Kindle PW
|
Quote:
But I do think, having spent nearly a decade in India, that people who are literate here read much more than let's say in Europe. On average, of course. |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
modifying reading stats (number of books read and hours read)? | psy65 | Kobo Developer's Corner | 10 | 10-14-2016 03:06 AM |
End of World in a few Hours.. selling everything.. | GadgetMan | Lounge | 4 | 12-28-2012 12:03 AM |
Spent a few hours researching cases, wanted to share my thoughts. | spartanhockey | Barnes & Noble NOOK | 22 | 11-29-2010 05:25 PM |
Spent a few hours researching cases, wanted comments on my findings. | spartanhockey | Which one should I buy? | 0 | 11-26-2010 01:55 PM |
Classic How many actual reading hours do you estimate... | wellington | Barnes & Noble NOOK | 35 | 08-12-2010 07:11 PM |