Books - One in Ten Do not have Any

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I read today that one in ten people do not own a single book, and amongst 18-24yr olds this rises to one in five.

Does this matter?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4145350/One-ten-people-not-single-book.html

 

[GreiginFife]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

What it doesn't say is how many read using electronic means. If someone asked how many books were in my house I'd probably say around 100 because I would envisage physical hard copy. But electronic books would push that closer to 200.
The wording isn't clear enough on what it is getting at for it to be a concerning matter.
Mind you, as I have been informed by my younger colleges (with whom I need a translator to understand half of what they say) that language is evolving and so books of today (and the current lexicon) probably mean as much to them as Shakespeare's work means to my generation (in terms of ownership or regular reading material).
Not sure this is much of a story at all unless all the facts are known.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

What it doesn't say is how many read using electronic means. If someone asked how many books were in my house I'd probably say around 100 because I would envisage physical hard copy. But electronic books would push that closer to 200.
The wording isn't clear enough on what it is getting at for it to be a concerning matter.
Mind you, as I have been informed by my younger colleges (with whom I need a translator to understand half of what they say) that language is evolving and so books of today (and the current lexicon) probably mean as much to them as Shakespeare's work means to my generation (in terms of ownership or regular reading material).
Not sure this is much of a story at all unless all the facts are known.

Recognise the eBook thing. But my question stands. I believe that there is a difference. Besides. No books in a house - suggests no or at best limited culture of reading. We can all look up and download a book on our device - but we have to know the book exists or indeed know that have an interest in the subject matter we look for.

And I just don't see how I can browse and flick through eBooks in anything with the ease and in the way I can in a bookshop. And it is in that way that I come across things that catch my eye - and interest me even although I never before realised the subject matter interested me.

Note the error in my Post Title should clearly be - Books - One in Ten do not have Any

 

[GreiginFife]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

Recognise the eBook thing. But my question stands. I believe that there is a difference. Besides. No books in a house - suggests no or at best limited culture of reading. We can all look up and download a book on our device - but we have to know the book exists or indeed know that have an interest in the subject matter we look for.

And I just don't see how I can browse and flick through eBooks in anything with the ease and in the way I can in a bookshop. And it is in that way that I come across things that catch my eye - and interest me even although I never before realised the subject matter interested me.

Note the error in my Post Title should clearly be - Books - One in Ten do not have Any

You might not see a lot of it but thankfully for the rest of humanitiy, loads of others can. Books, like physical audio, will diminish and become cult culture.
There will always be people who want the physical element of a book but there will be more that don't eventually.
You can get sample ebooks, so a bit like flicking through the pages. You also get handy suggestions on what else you might like.
To suggest no physical books shows a limited sign of reading culture is just absolute pish. Half of our book collection is digital and that will only grow. Books will suffer damage and be binned. If that happens we look for digital replacement.

Your question seems to be whether you find it an issue as your reply to me was all about your personal view rather than a wider view of how the world is moving. You also seem to have managed to post this twice.

 

[Hobbit]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

Used to have tonnes of 'em, with probably a 50/40/10 split between fiction/non-fiction/technical. Most of what I now buy, including replacing physical copies, is for the Kindle. The odd few that are hard copies are mainly technical - apologies to those that think it wrong but I often write notes in technical books.

And my favourite non-fiction; political history and political biographies. The first political biog I read was Charles Stewart Parnell, closely followed by Michael Collins, the Irish Freedom fighter/politician and then Eamon De Valera. Its what comes of having a grandfather who was in the IRA a 100 years ago.

 

[Alex1975]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

DM invalidates any post....

 

[Tongo]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

I love a good book. There's something about the actual, tangible experience of a book that you cant get on an electronic device. Yes, electronic devices are progress but is life / people ever that simple?

There's also something calming about standing in front of my bookcase and just perusing the books. I also love heading into a bookshop and finding a quiet corner to browse the shelves. It aint the same on a laptop or a tablet.

 

[Rooter]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

DM invalidates any post....

beat me to it. was just about to go into how many books we have, then i saw that. Thread invalid.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

My 21yr old daughter - child of the device age. Once into her teens rarely if ever did she read a book outside of what she had to read at school - and then at Uni she had no time. She is working in London at the moment (for Amnesty - volunteering) so has an each way hour and half train and underground journey every day - and so has started to read books. A friend lent her her copy of The Lightless Sky: An Afghan Refugee Boy's Journey of Escape to A New Life in Britain. On the way to the station last week she told me that the book is great - she thought she was going to be reading a book about a hard journey from UK Afghanistan to the UK. She is - but she has also learned about the Taliban, Afghan wars, US involvement etc. Now she had heard of all of this before but did not know anything about it. By reading she has learned.

Now she could have had exactly the same experience had she downloaded the book. The point is - she could have come across this book in a bookshop without looking for it. She would not have picked it up expecting to learn about the Taliban and the war in Afghanistan etc. But she would most probably not have come across it browsing, and even if she had she would not have chosen to download it - that's what she says/ And she would not have learned what she has now learned.

My daughter and her friends ask me how I know so much 'stuff'. I say it's because I read it - mostly in books - and that often I just pick one up and flick through it and read a page or two - even a paragraph or two. Would I do that with eBooks? I don't know. My daughter now understands how I know so much 'stuff' - it's cos I read books.

But if some of the younger amongst us feel that books are obsolescent and do not have any future value - that is a poor prospect. I feel it is incumbent on younger parents to tell their children that books are an important supplement to their on-line or downloaded reading - and to lead by example.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

Recognise the eBook thing. But my question stands. I believe that there is a difference. Besides. No books in a house - suggests no or at best limited culture of reading. We can all look up and download a book on our device - but we have to know the book exists or indeed know that have an interest in the subject matter we look for.

And I just don't see how I can browse and flick through eBooks in anything with the ease and in the way I can in a bookshop. And it is in that way that I come across things that catch my eye - and interest me even although I never before realised the subject matter interested me.

Note the error in my Post Title should clearly be - Books - One in Ten do not have Any

Complete and utter pile of nonsense

That's such a judgemental statement - that comment is up there with anything delc has said

Just because you are stuck back in the 60's don't judge everyone by your own prehistoric standards

 

[GreiginFife]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

My 21yr old daughter - child of the device age. Once into her teens rarely if ever did she read a book outside of what she had to read at school - and then at Uni she had no time. She is working in London at the moment (for Amnesty - volunteering) so has an each way hour and half train and underground journey every day - and so has started to read books. A friend lent her her copy of The Lightless Sky: An Afghan Refugee Boy's Journey of Escape to A New Life in Britain. On the way to the station last week she told me that the book is great - she thought she was going to be reading a book about a hard journey from UK Afghanistan to the UK. She is - but she has also learned about the Taliban, Afghan wars, US involvement etc. Now she had heard of all of this before but did not know anything about it. By reading she has learned.

Now she could have had exactly the same experience had she downloaded the book. The point is - she could have come across this book in a bookshop without looking for it. She would not have picked it up expecting to learn about the Taliban and the war in Afghanistan etc. But she would most probably not have come across it browsing, and even if she had she would not have chosen to download it - that's what she says/ And she would not have learned what she has now learned.

My daughter and her friends ask me how I know so much 'stuff'. I say it's because I read it - mostly in books - and that often I just pick one up and flick through it and read a page or two - even a paragraph or two. Would I do that with eBooks? I don't know. My daughter now understands how I know so much 'stuff' - it's cos I read books.

But if some of the younger amongst us feel that books are obsolescent and do not have any future value - that is a poor prospect. I feel it is incumbent on younger parents to tell their children that books are an important supplement to their on-line or downloaded reading - and to lead by example.

Simple question. Why? Why is it important? The value is not in the book surely but in the content. Are you somehow suggesting that reading a paper copy of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' makes your learning greater or your intellectual status higher than if you read the exact same book digitally?
You know so much stuff because, and this is the important bit, you read it. Simple as that, the source matters not a jot.
As digital takes over, its just another facet of modern technology that will change the way we ingest information.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

Recognise the eBook thing. But my question stands. I believe that there is a difference. Besides. No books in a house - suggests no or at best limited culture of reading. We can all look up and download a book on our device - but we have to know the book exists or indeed know that have an interest in the subject matter we look for.

And I just don't see how I can browse and flick through eBooks in anything with the ease and in the way I can in a bookshop. And it is in that way that I come across things that catch my eye - and interest me even although I never before realised the subject matter interested me.

Note the error in my Post Title should clearly be - Books - One in Ten do not have Any

Disagree. Getting the news in printed form is in decline but people can still get it. Just because people don't have books doesn't make it a given that they have a limited culture of reading. HID's kindle is full of things like Dickens, F Scott Fitzgerald etc and yet we probably have a dozen books in the house. I consider myself well read (still use a library) without the need to clutter my house with dusty tomes. Accessibility has changed the need to buy and keep books

 

[louise_a]

Re: Books - One in Ten Do have Any

I read a lot, always have a book on the go, and I prefer books to the likes of kindle, there is something about turning pages. That said I don't own a lot, I mostly get them from the local library (just taken 7 out today)

 

[Hobbit]

There is a place for ereaders over books. I read several different newspapers a day. It gives a very revealing insight into the media and the different biases therein.

And as for packing 4 or 5 books, or a Kindle, when I go on holiday. I know which I prefer.

But at the end of the day, surely it's the quality of the story, not the medium?

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Simple question. Why? Why is it important? The value is not in the book surely but in the content. Are you somehow suggesting that reading a paper copy of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' makes your learning greater or your intellectual status higher than if you read the exact same book digitally?
You know so much stuff because, and this is the important bit, you read it. Simple as that, the source matters not a jot.
As digital takes over, its just another facet of modern technology that will change the way we ingest information.

On the simplest level I think it is important for children to actually see adults reading - and how does anyone know what anyone is actually doing when looking at an electronic device. And the fact that one in ten houses have no books - that simply suggests to me that in that house reading books is not seen as that important - so what is there to encourage children to read.

And I just do not believe that a habit of casually and quickly flicking and browsing through dozens of books on a shelf - can be replicated on-line. And such is the short attention span / dwell-time of many these days when browsing electronically - I believe it is less likely that a reader/browser will stop and read for a few minutes. I also believe that an electronic book once read is very unlikely to be read or even looked at again. That is most definitely not the case for physical books. Plus others visiting your home cannot easily browse books you have when you have read them electronically and so pick up a book on something they had not had any interest in - indeed the book might no longer exist for you electronically for someone to see.

You'll note that my thoughts on books are actually nothing to do with my own reading preferences - but encouraging and enabling others to read or to read something they might not otherwise have read

 

[Hobbit]

I've got to disagree with your point on rereading books just because they are on an ereader. I've reread quite a number of books and often skim back through magazines.

Also, I believe that the ease of accessing material via an ereader makes it more likely that someone will use an ereader more than a book. And there's the attraction of the technology that will appeal more to the younger generation than picking up a book.

I'm reluctant to say Luddite but I would very much question your logic. And judging current parents... judge unto others.

 

[Tongo]

Keep all your books SwingsitlikeHogan! Give it ten years and they will be worth a fortune as historical artefacts!

Preserving my collection as we speak.....

 

[ScienceBoy]

Books are not needed at home. Digital download is the future.

I predict libraries will go through a resurgence however.

I hate too many physical books taking up space in our house. A couple is nice but only for aesthetics

 

[Imurg]

We have millions of books in the house.........

I can't remember the last time I opened one.....

 

[JohnnyDee]

I'm another 'either works for me' voter.

Have many hard copy books in the house but don't believe I've bought one in over 5 years, whereas I've bought 3 digital ones in January already.

My IPad reader and Kindle have loads on them, and as has been said, it leaves space around the home.