Volumes have been written about technology's ability to connect people.
But burying one's nose in a book has always been somewhat isolating --
with its unspoken assertion that the reader does not want to be
disturbed. So what about a device that occupies the evolving
intersection between?
"Strangers constantly ask about it," Michael Hughes, a communications associate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said of his iPad, which he uses to read a mix of novels and nonfiction. "It's almost like having a new baby." An iPad owner for four months, Mr. Hughes said people were much more likely to approach him now than when he toted a book. "People approach me and ask to see it, to touch it, how much I like it," he said. "That rarely happens with dead-tree books."
With the price of e-readers coming down, sales of the flyweight devices are rising. Last month, Amazon reported that so far this year, Kindle sales had tripled over last year's. When Amazon cut Kindle's price in June to $189 from $259, over the next month Amazon sold 180 e-books for every 100 hardcovers.
Social mores surrounding the act of reading alone in public may be
changing along with increased popularity. Suddenly, the lone,
unapproachable reader at the corner table seems less alone. Given that
some e-readers can display books while connecting online, there's a
chance the erstwhile bookworm is already plugged into a conversation
somewhere, said Paul Levinson, professor of communication and media
studies at Fordham University.
Source: The New York Times | AUSTIN CONSIDINE
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