ANSWERS: 19
  • Internet?!
  • I read just as many books as I used to, I just get them in eBook format these days.
  • The impact of technical media such as TV and Internet with their fast paced flow of images has a destructive effect on the ability to concentrate on more complex issues that take a longer time to digest - such as longer written pieces, especially if they are intricately structured and demand a lot of analyzing and thinking. This situation has already had effects on the books that are written today.
  • As we start falling faster and faster into the information abyss, everything speeds up. Technologies become more efficient and as more and more cultures value and demand machine like production and management of time. News gets boiled down to headlines and gets boiled down to a 3 word statement, and that will be all that we think we need to know. This isn't saying that all people have lost the fundamental value of enjoying the slow pace of books magazines and newspapers, it is just that as a culture that deems technological progress as a good thing, our world will continue to delve into the digital and beyond, and fall away from the natural forms of communication we used to cherish.
  • Inveterate readers won't stop, can't stop..but those to whom reading was not a joy in itself but simply a means of gathering information have sleeker, faster ways of "connecting" to what goes on in the world. As one ages, sometimes the eyesight makes it more difficult to read..at least the small print. So I read fewer books..but I read the newspaper and I watch the news and I have my AB friends to keep me apprised of what's going on around the world! :)
  • i think tv and internet has alot to do with it. tho here in the country in the winter we read alot at our home.
  • I don't enjoy reading books much, they take up too much time, and gives me a headache - I am a film girl. I watch the news on TV, and the internet is a very useful tool for learning. I also enjoy people watching.
  • You have to stop at some point, there are other things to do with your day.
  • I suspect the actual number of people who read/don't read hasn't changed. Rather, I suspect that people who don't read (who never read) just don't feel bad about admitting it anymore.
  • Convenience with other sources.And more importantly, time.Other sources give you live news...but not papers.And I think this doesn't apply to books.There are the same no. of people who do still love books...May be magazines and newspapers may lose their popularity...but not books:)
  • I don't know. I still read lots of books and magazines. I never did read the newspaper much, though.
  • The TV does all the thinking for them. Some find it easier if the narator just 'tells' them the story rather than making the effort to actually read it themselves. I'm very big on reading for pleasure. I get 4 magazines in the mail and average 4 to 5 novels a month. I love to read, it even got me in trouble in Kindergarten for reading 3 chapters ahead of the rest of the class.
  • For those who stop with hard-copies (actual books, papers, mags), there is always the internet version. Besides, many people no longer have enough time in the day to read, and their "relaxing" is sitting and watching TV. With all the news and local channels, they get it relatively instantly. (I know if I see a news story on TV and want to know more, I look it up on the 'net and read what was printed in any numbers of papers.)
  • i think a lot of people just go online for everything.. i love and always will love books, magazines and newspapers.
  • Many people are just too thinly stretched of time and they don't see the need to buy out the time to read. Add to that just wanting to find things out the quick way and there is little reason for people to read.
  • We live in an age of immediate gratification. When we want to be entertained we can pop in a movie and *poof*, we are a million miles from reality. A far cry from being told stories around a fire - stories that hadd been memorized from generation to generation. When we want fed, we stop by the nearest burger joint and *poof*, our faces are satisfactorally stuffed in about five minutes. Very different from a few generations ago, when making dinner could take up a mother's entire day. When we want to learn, we hop on the net and *poof*, all the knowldedge of the human race at our fingertips. Not like one generation ago, when it meant hours in the library, learning all there was know about something. Reading is a process that takes time and thought - more time and thought than most are willing to putr into it. Even when we look things up on the net, we are scanning pages for one or two key sentences that will explain the concept we're looking to understand as quickly as possible. We don't want to research it - we want a quick soundbite - a three-minute course on it. When instant gratification is the rule for your entire lifestyle, what makes you think that the rule will change when all you have is a good book to work with?
  • False Propagenda
  • Internet and Television as well as a much faster lifestyle are the main culprits I think.
  • it helps them to concentrate on the article they are reading

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