Steve Jobs and the death of reading
I just read this weekend a quote from Steve Jobs about reading. Shelfari (social networking book site) is quite perturbed over it, and launching a 50 books reading challenge to reject his premise. So here’s what he said:
When asked about the new Amazon Kindle product, Steve Jobs CEO of Apple computer had this to say:
“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”
I think the problem with the kindle is those of us who do read don’t want to spend almost $400.00 to read a book, that’s a lot of paperbacks or overdue library fines. And for that price it should be a lot better format than print and I’m just not sure it is.
Do we really think “people just don’t read anymore”?
And if this is true, why is it true?
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Comments
What’s less than one book? Like they read half a book? A sentence? Honestly, I think the problem with Steve Jobs is that he spends a little too much time listening to Steve Jobs.
Well, alot of my reading time these days is spent reading news, blogs and articles on the web. But I still read books, and those subscriptions to Time and Discover magazines arrive like clockwork. Oh, and I also subscribe to Mac Life, so be careful what you say about Mr. Jobs! 
– Reggie the Mac addict
What about the 60% that read more than one book a year. That’s a lot more than those who own apple products.