Comments on: Reading Attention-Span Demanding Books In A Digital ADD World

By: WRB » Reading Attention-Span Demanding Books In A Digital ADD World

WRB » Reading Attention-Span Demanding Books In A Digital ADD World — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:20:02 +0000

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By: Trish

Trish — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:41:01 +0000

I like to read in bed, a habit I picked up when I was pregnant 14 years ago. I have NO intention of taking the internet to bed with me!

I’ll read non-fiction in bed occasionally, but not often. I use the internet primarily for research and information. When reading for pleasure I do not want to sit in front of a computer. I want to flop around, put my feet up, munch on things. And there is a physical pleasure in turning the pages of a good book.

For informational reading I go online. For pleasure reading it’s still print for me.

By: DaveR

DaveR — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:31:32 +0000

For me it’s not really an ADD thing, it’s more of a time issue (which is what I got from your post also). I have almost three full bookshelves (one is an 8-foot tall one too) of hardcover and paperback books ranging from Sci-fi, Fantasy, Clancy, Daily Comics compendiums, classics, and non-fiction political, money and health books. I have read everyone of them, some of them three or four times over the last 30ish years.

But for the past decade or so, with work, family, and free time there’s not enough hours in the day if I want to get a full nights sleep to delve into a 500+ page Fiction novel. Traveling – sure, Vacations – yup, Flying – a must.

The wider availability of the internet has also affected this for me, because it enables me to do things that I love (you know that old saying, find something you love to do and then get someone to pay for it – that’s me and my FUN is computers) anywhere, not just “from the office”. I used to get the newspaper and every day, usually over morning coffee, I would page thru every single page of the newspaper, skimming some stories, reading others, but keeping abreast of what’s going on and then go on about my day. Now you can keep up with even more “live” news just by hitting F5 on web pages (I don’t get any newspapers anymore either). So if I was someplace where I was finished with the newspaper and there wasn’t internet yet, that’s when reading would happen. It’s actually hard to find a place that doesn’t have internet anymore.

By: david foster

david foster — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:43:55 +0000

My experience is a little different. On-line reading has definitely increased my quality threshold for articles, books, and video…stuff I would have previously read or watched now gets skipped. But I’m still very happy to read *well-written* books–fiction or non-fiction–or well-scripted and produced video.

In fact, I just finished reading all 700 pages of “Vanity Fair” (the book, certainly not the magazine)