One of the best ripostes to that line of argument is your own book, Dreaming in Code, which I’ve finally been able to move from my Should Read list to my Have Read list. Like all software, the Internet is highly malleable and therefore how we interact with it is also highly malleable. You can, if you choose, flit from four-line blog post to four-line blog post, but you can also choose to spend hours reading the long form text that is available online.

I think the most limiting factor in most peoples’ book reading is just time. With work and driving to work, most people have around ten to eleven hours of attention each day spoken for. Add in commitments such as avoiding divorce and not letting the children starve, then many people have just enough time left to eke out a few hours of sleep.

In my particular case, I’m fortunate to have a source of reading time in the form of my BART ride from Glen Park to Oakland and back everyday. With waiting time factored in, this can be as much as two hours that I can spend reading. With a library conveniently located next to the station, I’ve been able to get my average to a book every week to week and a half.

I’ve just blogged on Carr’s article too – in particular how people adapt to new technology pretty quickly. Whoever does long division on paper since calculators were invented…

I’m nothing to do with it, but judging by your blogroll – you might want to check out old copies in particular of The Idler Magazine – which was big in the UK for a while.

Chris

Also, the Internet is the best way anywhere to *find* good books to read. Example: currently reading “The Worst Hard Time” by Timothy Egan, found on Audible.com.