I've always read incessantly. I read the internet almost exclusively now.

[Stephanie]

You?

[knowbody0]

1. what's a newspaper?

[Stephanie]

2. what's paper?

[the_spectator]

11. Yeah i read more on the internet than I used to

but you guys are missing something, or ignoring something for geek-ideological reasons:

it is SO much more COMFORTABLE on the eyes to read from paper than from a computer screen. This remains so. This is certainly the case when it comes to long-term reading (eg sitting down with a book and reading for 2 hours straight or more). It's almost a health issue in a way, and I find this also DIS-courages long-term, in-depth reading on the internet, dispite the GREAT availability of important and valuable text on the web!

parenthetically, I think it's also the case that a BOOK remains far more CONVENIENT than any e-text for quick, skimming, getting the gist or the meat of the work type of reading: for one reason because of the SPEED with which one can land in any place in even a huge 1,000-page book. And I can consume what I want to of a New York Times paper edition SO much more speedily AND completely than through a website!

[knowbody0]

12. OMG ! we're saving trees!

[Nite Owl]

3. I do too.

We used to read the NYT and other papers daily, subscribe to several news mags but not now. Looking at it that way Roadrunner is really not a bad deal. The internet is the only way to find out what is really going on in the world.

[alittlelark]

4. I.... Can't... stop....myself....!

Sometimes the truth hurts... nowadays it almost always does.

[clitzpah queen]

5. Yeah, same here

books and newspapers even feel slightly strange in my hand

[Stephanie]

26. They feel slow.

Welcome to DU.

[blm]

6. Same here. It's easier on my eyes.

Ever since I had laser surgery for my near-sightedness I've been uncomfortable reading books, even with reading glasses.

So great to adjust the type on the puter.

[yorkiemommie1]

7. yep !!

n/t

[LibertyorDeath]

8. Yes I'm hopelessly addicted.

[Cleita]

9. My eyes haven't healed enough to read a lot of internet yet.

The glare is really off putting. So if I really want to read something I have to print it out, so I am still reading print matter more these days. I hope to get to where I can get most of my information off the monitor and save what I want to access on CD's.

[seabeyond]

10. internet. watched cnn first time the other nite, been a long time

that special, dead wrong. still, wasnt satisfied. that is about it

[henslee]

13. Me too but.... I am aware that the quality of what I read on the internet

is sometimes less polished than what I read offline --- in that sometimes much less time, attention and thought is put into creating it. Sort of like mental fast food. Sure this is not always the case. But if online reading replaces reading books... this is a very different type of reading.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

14. Welcome......

to the real world. Morpheus, The Matrix.

[im10ashus]

15. I do both.

Internet mostly, but I try to get through a book or two a week. Sometimes all this bad news gets to me and I need a break. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

[Stephanie]

24. I don't know when you have the time.

But wonder if I still have the concentration. I used to finish the NY Times crossword every day. Every day! Of course I was only working part time, if at all.

[im10ashus]

28. I can get through about 2 chapters during my commute.

At least the current book I am reading anyway. 2 chapters there and 2 on the way home. Then during lunch I do a few chapters. Then at night before bed. I need the distraction. It takes me about a week to do the NY Times Sunday puzzle.

[madokie]

16. I second that

I read the local paper now to see what it is they are not printing.

[newyawker99]

43. Hi madokie!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[madokie]

44. Thank you

TOAST

I find DU to be addicting.
Not to mention sometimes, Sad, Funny, Happy but always very informative. A good place to start and a good place to end the day.

[Booster]

17. Yep, me too. I keep buying books and can't seem to get around

to reading them. I think it has to do with info on the internet, especially on DU, for the most part is short and to the point. I have learned more on here than from any books I've ever read, although I'm not really proud of my short attention span of a minute and a half.

[Stephanie]

19. that's me!

I have books piled up dating back to Richard Clarke's.

[Beam Me Up]

18. What's a TV??

CORPORATE OWNED MEDIA HAS ONLY ONE GOAL: KEEP YOU BUYING THEIR REALITY.

[Stephanie]

21. Well yes and then there's that.

Really not following anything on the TV. No cable. Not really watching any particular shows. Gave up my Friday night in front of the set watching news & politics shows. No longer staying in on Sunday mornings for the talking heads. No America's Next Top Model. Not much TV.

[Beam Me Up]

33. Stopped watching in 2000 when they put the chimpanzee in the WH.

I knew right then that our country was in SERIOUS trouble. Some of us who had been following the relationship between the CIA and the drug trade were already anticipating an event like 9/11. Being online has been a REAL education since!!

I have a TV but all I watch on it are videos I and my friends make :)

[tinrobot]

20. Internet and some magazines

No more TV news... that stuff is toxic.

Except the Daily Show.

[Stephanie]

23. My New Yorkers are piling up in the basket unread.

Next to the Vanity Fairs.

[Pirate Smile]

22. I'm right there with you.

[spuddonna]

25. I read online obsessively...

There's so much info, I could literally stay in front of this pc all day... :)

[Beam Me Up]

29. Today I HAVE been in front of the computer reading ALL DAY.

Certain it isn't a totally great idea. It is a bit obsessive. But, today, I felt the need to do it. Have gotten SOME other work done.

But, hey, what could be more important than educating oneself and others to get rid of these evil bastards?

[mopaul]

27. i've read thousands of books, but now it's strictly news & world affairs

incessantly like you.

[Stephanie]

31. I know someone who is such an incessant reader, that on 9/11

He lived very, very close to the Twin Towers - in the World Financial Center development down there on the waterfront. When the second jet hit, and they evacuated his apartment building, he said "and I left so fast I didn't even bring anything to read." As if he had left without his pants. He's old school, tho.

[davekriss]

37. I sit in my "music room" surrounded...

...by bookcases. There are books everywhere. Kriss and I have moved cross-country 3 times and each time she questions why I pack and unpack so many books. I'm what some affectionately call a "reader" (my undergrad is english lit).

But there is one thing I noticed: new book acquisition has slowed to a trickle, maybe 10-12 a year, since the rise of the internet. By far, my primary source of information today is the internet.

But there is a downside, and that's not always knowing what content is available in the manufactured reality of corporate media. A lot of us here underappreciate the poverty of truth that is the everyday experience of so many. Truth just does not flow to them.

(Someone said earlier, "what's a T.V.?" Yeah, what is that?)

[Eloriel]

30. Exactly the same

I haven't read a real book in ages. Frankly, the idea doesn't even appeal to me. I wonder to myself if that's the real reason I haven't gotten thru so many of the books I've bought, from The Bush Dyslexicon to War on Freedom to Against All Enemies.

I'm not buying books any more, tho.

You might be interested in these links, about the revolution (about to happen) in publishing and in libraries as well, presumably:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/business/yourmoney/21lunch.html?ex=1282276800&en=457d8673860ec832&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0823/p01s05-legn.html

[Stephanie]

32. Will look at those links, thanks.

I almost wonder if the internet is really changing the way our brains work. I have the same thing - books piled up, stopped buying them, attempting to cancel subscriptions, they're piling up.

[Terran]

34. Me too, and not overly happy about it.

My consumption of fiction has plummeted that last couple of years. I miss the pleasure of reading for fun.

[Stephanie]

35. only on airplanes

and at the beach

[Carni]

36. Same here

I think the net has had an effect on my attention span because I can't just sit down anymore with one book or one publication--I keep thinking I want to click and move on!

[Lorien]

38. Still read novels and the Utne reader

but I have no other news source (I barely have TV reception).

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

39. I read extensively on the Internet, and when I attempt to pick-up a book

I suffer from reader's block. It's very frustrating as I used to read at least 2 to 3 books a week.

(edited for the grammar police)

[Stephanie]

40. yeah something's up with that

I have been blaming it on 9/11 PTSD, but maybe it's the internet.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

47. Although I was profoundly affected by 9/11, I cannot attribute this

to ptsd. I really think it has something to do with the nature of the Internet itself, and how it affects me.

[OneBlueSky]

41. the pros and cons of getting your news from the net . . .

PRO: with access to news sources NOT controlled by multi-national corporations, you can gain a much fuller, richer, and truer understanding of what's REALLY happening in this country and across the planet . . .

CON: understanding (at even a rudimentary level) the magnitude and horror of what's really happening can very easily scare the living shit out of you and/or drive you into deep, deep depression . . .

[Carolab]

42. Only way to be informed. Right here. n/t

[deutsey]

45. The Internet, Harper's, The Nation, In These Times, New Yorker

Just took a subscription out for Left Business Observer.

And then there are books. Lots of books of all kinds.

[Window]

46. Yes.

Stopped all newspaper and teevee news after the first stolen election. My sister phones me with local news. I'm a much calmer, nicer person these days. LOL!

[imperialismispasse]

48. I still read books.

I like the internet a lot but sometimes you want the experience of actually holding a book in your hands. You know?

[StayOutTheBushes]

49. How do you read the internet?

[Stephanie]

51. How do you Stay Out The Bushes?

[StayOutTheBushes]

52. With the help of the immortal Jesse Jackson!

[raccoon]

50. I read the Internet, still read books, and I LOVE audiobooks. nt