PepeM

Lots of going on.

As for 'read a friggin' book,' there are plenty of books out there without any intellectual merit, and also plenty of books with intellectual merit being read without any critical thought. The idea that reading a lot makes someone smart is nonsense.

Rowan

Books are still books -- something tangible that will last decades if not centuries -- and there will always be a market for them, but it will be niche. Books can be taken just about anywhere and used with a guarantee that the battery isn't going to run out. Think long air flights where there's no USB plug-in at the seat; or an overnight trek into the mountains; or a voyage on a boat.

But I sometimes wonder how the book store model is going to last. There is one in Hobart that has been a part of the city's business landscape for as long as I can remember, and it still survives, albeit with a cafe in the back part. But how can it be that they can even make money from what are quite expensive books being sold on special at $5 each; these are books on the anatomy of exercise, a whole series of them that are superbly illustrated, and Machka pounced to buy the set of four for that price of $5 each.

Rowan

Really? As a student, how much reading are you doing?

topslop1

I sold my 400 bitcoins for $10/pop. Next year they peaked at $1242/pop. I would have been 24 and sitting on north of $400k had I liquidated above $1000/per.

24 and half way to retired.

Or 24 and a Porsche to crash into a tree at 145mph.

LAJ

I freely admit I don't read as much as I used to. Time really is the big inhibitor, but it doesn't stop me from reading the latest King, and waiting with anticipation for it to come out.

Stephen King's End of Watch - Coming June 7th 2016

Trsnrtr

I don't care about reading making me smart. I do like books as a way to escape like any exercise of the mind. If I pick up a little knowledge along the way, that's great!

BTW, I generally read fiction, anything from classics and public domain stuff to the latest pap. I even read the 41 and I know it hasn't made me any smarter, only stoopided.

Dan333SP

At the risk of being banned for stepping on @PepeM's toes, I think he's saying just reading a lot doesn't make you smart if you're reading garbage, because there's plenty of garbage in print. Reading a lot of texts or actual quality literature or history or scientific studies ect. and actually absorbing what you're reading will make you smart, however.

Also, he's not doing any reading other than Addiction. How could he have the time?

Dan333SP

Dan333SP

^ ^ Wow, that was tasteless, reported.

Hey, what's the best fiction book you've read lately?

Personally, I'm a big David Mitchell fan, and I really loved Cloud Atlas. The movie was apparently terrible, but the book itself was beautifully written.

RollCNY

50 shades started as Twilight fan fiction, so a short attention span readership followed. Harry Potter was teen targeted and caught with adults, which is great, and Game of Thrones took a big leap in popularity with the HBO series.

My brother is a published author, in the fantasy/historical fiction genre. His basic commentary is that you can't make a living as an author unless you write something that will convert to TV/screen, which is why there is a great deal of recipe writing, and why so much that is done today is utterly predictable. Authors lament the lack of originality, and then continue to produce to template to chase success. That is definitely apparent in the stuff he does.

I have long had the concepts for two novels, and I have discussed them with him. He wants to jointly write them, because they are unusual. But his goal is to morph the unusual bits to the commercial model and go for movie right sale. My goal is to write them down to get them out of my head. To date, I haven't agreed to the venture because starting with opposing goals never leads to success.

PepeM

A lot. Most of it technical papers unfortunately. It's been a while since I've read a 'proper' book.

That, basically, with the 'actually absorbing it' part being key. Truth is, reading critically is pretty hard. Now, reading more>reading less obviously, but it's not the instant pathway to 'smarts' that it is often portrayed to be.

As for Addiction, I guess if I stopped coming here I would have time for reading. But this counts as reading, right?

Unfortunately it will probably last just as most other specialty stores, which is to say it won't. A shame, really, book stores are nice. With that said, the few times I've been to the Barnes and Noble nearby they seem to have a pretty good crowd, so those might survive. The local one few blocks away? Looking unlikely unfortunately.

Bah Humbug

Oh absolutely hard books are on a decline; people (especially young people) move more than ever before. My GoT collection is on my Kindle. As well as the whole trashy Wingman series until it got completely insane even by its standards. Physical books are bulky and heavy and hard to move.

Now, yes, I'm sure there's a decline in book sales. The same thing is happening to movies, though, and CDs... there's more competition for entertainment in general, and there are massive advantages to having things in digital form. Along, unfortunately, with some disadvantages, but having just packed up everything I own (and having moved almost ten times in ten years) I want as little physical stuff as I can manage.

RollCNY

I don't take reading as a sign of intelligence (and I didn't take Rowan's that way either). I take it as a sign of attention span, and willingness to process information. Everything is a processed snippet anymore, and many people read enough to scratch a surface, and to regurgitate an author's concept, but probably not enough to coalesce multiple sources and form their own beliefs. I am no expert, and that is just my opinion.

Reading also tends to teach the difference between "have" and "of", so there is that as well.

Dan333SP

I have a little tablet reader (from Barnes & Noble, no less!) with about 15,000 books on it, which is great. Still, I stare at screens all day and it's just one more glowing touchscreen to stare at when going to bed, so I prefer getting a physical book in my hands. There's also more of a sense of accomplishment when you turn the last page and set it down on your table thinking about what you've just read, as opposed to closing your e-reader app and then firing up Chrome to post about bikes online.

Trsnrtr

About 95% of my reading is on my iPhone or my iPad. My iPhone is always there and I snatch a few pages while waiting on my wife shopping or lunch or wherever.

PepeM

Oh that was not trying to directly address Rowan, it was more of a side comment.

Regarding 'have' and 'of,' I thought that was supposed to be taken care of during grammar lessons, but who knows anymore.

topslop1

He took Porsche's most finnicky, race bred production vehicle that they claim to have ever produced for the public with a ton of warning and documentation given to owners upon purchase, and then put aftermarket mods on it to generate more power. Then he throws the thing into a tree, it explodes, and the family sues Porsche..?

I would've settled for driving a boxster type s very hard on public roads and that more than likely would be at 1/2 the available hp of his ride.

PepeM

My gf got a Kindle a few years ago but none of us could really get into it. It now sits gathering dust in some drawer. I even print lengthy papers. I really don't like reading on the screen.

That's actually not a bad idea.

Dan333SP

In his defense, he wasn't driving. The guy that was supposedly had lots of track experience so it's surprising he lost control as he did, but stupid is stupid I guess. The lawsuit was totally frivolous and I'm glad it was tossed out.

Rowan

Personally, I think "smarts" come from experience. We see it all the time here on BFs and especially on the Touring forum... the theorists who have read everything readable about their pet project, and who ask lots and lots of questions, but just can't quite commit because they might make a mistake.

The people with the real smarts are out there doing it, making mistakes, taking responsibility for them, and moving on.

Yeah, reading doesn't give one intelligence, but it can equip someone with some knowledge to tackle what they want to do.

Sooooo... I think we are all on the same page here.

Rowan

Don't forget the bathroom. I am not shy to admit there is always reading material, either hard copy or electronic, available for those extended periods sitting and doing not much.

Doug28450

Mrs. Doug28450, CD, C1 and C2 all have kindles. When I first got them for them they were used quite a bit. It seemed that between the four of them, I was on Amazon every week ordering more books. Now, I don't think they even know where their Kindle is.

CD has trouble reading. Not because she has trouble reading, but because, as mentioned earlier, she struggles to transform the words into mental pictures. I tried to get her to read "To Kill a Mockingbird". After about four false starts, we watched the movie and she tried reading it again. That time she got through the whole thing and commented that after seeing the movie, it all made sense.

C2 has trouble reading, because she seems to have trouble processing words. She sees a word, but has trouble processing the pronunciation. In some cases, the word is a word she uses grammatically correct on a regular basis. But when she sees the word, she can't see the spelling and translate it into the proper pronunciation. Therefore, she tends to skip over words and stories start to not make sense.

C1 is good reader and just about everything she reads is just about instantly committed to memory. She has the ability to paint the visual picture of the story and keep the picture moving along with the story. Sometimes she gets a little tripped up on books that have numerous "side stories" going on. Her trouble is finding things that she really likes to read.

PepeM

I go about my business quickly enough to not need support material, but I do remember my father spending at least an hour every morning in there and he always read the paper or a book, or for a period of time played Tetris (he was really good at it.)

Dan333SP

An hour? Good god. I think my "legs going numb" threshold for that particular brand of sitting is about 10 minutes.

WalksOn2Wheels

Nah, I'm pretty sure we need to argue more.

I enjoy both. I actually had a huge advantage with ebooks in school because I could carry my 3 pound laptop instead of 6 or 7 pounds of bulky books while commuting on the bike. That and the ability to search a document instead of thumbing repeatedly through a chapter. But for the important classes, I highly valued a physical book I could mark up and keep notes and tabs on. It depended on the class.

I enjoy "graphic novels" as well and don't seem to mind them on either format, but do enjoy physical print more.

But I will agree with the statement regarding short attention spans and the soundbite mindset. Absolutely a detriment to critical thinking skills in my opinion and reading books can help cure that. But I will also agree that someone who reads 20 books in a month might not be smart. They might all be romance novels they bought in the line at the grocery store.