4 ms·
No one reads books anymore. Explain why libraries are still operational, please.
by dunstad 17y ago
No one reads books anymore.
Explain why libraries are still operational, please.
- gcheong 17y agoFree wi-fi/internet access?
- dunstad 17y agoMade me laugh, but McDonald's has that plus food.
- GHFigs 17y agoMcDonald's does not provide computers, though. People who patronize the library for internet access the most are those who don't own a computer at all. In other countries, this role is often filled by internet cafes, but they never really caught on in the U.S.
- dunstad 17y agoExcellent point. I suppose books could be kept in libraries for atmosphere, even if nobody used them. Funny how a sensible point, when approached from the wrong angle, can be rendered nonsensical.
- zmimon 17y agoDo you have evidence that they are? I suspect that libraries are filling important niches today that are extremely hard to replace with technology, but their use for some purposes such as repositories for reference information is all but obsolete. We use our local library intensely - but only to borrow about 20 books a week for our 2 year old. Otherwise I would not have gone there in 10 years.
- GHFigs 17y agoThe argument is a relative one. "No one reads books" is like saying "everyone watches TV". Neither are true, but practically, they are close enough to the truth to draw reasonably accurate conclusions from. For instance, you can conclude that Apple wouldn't release a dedicated reading device (as Amazon has) because the market is relatively small, being the union of "people who read", "people willing to read on an electronic device", and "people who can afford a dedicated reading electronic device", as opposed to (say) "people who use the web" and "people who listen to music or watch tv or watch movies". (I don't agree with the parent post, incidentally, as people who read the news as opposed to watching the news are a dying breed.) As for libraries--they're quite obviously an argument against a reading device.