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This is why I like books. No attempt at attention hijacking. Wheras every other modern app tries to claw your eyes out.

robertclaus 5d ago
Our book club has actually noted that more and more mainstream books are written for low attention span. Repeating details ad nauseum and simplifying the plot significantly. So I don't think books are immune to this automatically.
- tombert 5d ago
  I am not sure that that's recent. Most books, even before the internet, were kind of low-effort shit. You've always had terrible borderline-porn romance novels at grocery stores and terrible pulp novels and the like. We just don't read terrible novels from 100 years ago; whatever we read from that era now has survived the test of time. The same cannot be said about anything released in the last couple years.
  - deleted 5d ago
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  - pixl97 5d ago
    Also, quantity is a quality in and of itself. Grocery store softcore porn was still very expensive in time, money, and space. The amount of energy required to move a book around is monumental in comparison to how much energy it takes to move the same number of bits of information contained in the book. The speed at which just the information moves (in modern digital networks) is nearly instantaneous. The space the digital book carries is not measurable by the human senses. It was nearly impossible for most people to afford to fill every waking moment with a book in front of them, bar a few addicts. Now there is a river of information actively fighting for your eyeballs at every moment. And how the meme-gene works, the most addictive types will rise as the victor.
popalchemist 5d ago
Relatively true, but less true every day.
titzer 5d ago
> every other modern app tries to claw your eyes out. They do, and it's annoying that even apps for "real work" do the same thing by flashing notifications/tips in your face, advertising a new feature you don't want to use right now, or warning you that everything is about to break soon.
eatsyourtacos 5d ago
Good old PC video games are good at this as well. It's a joy to get into a game and not have anything else trying to pull you away with random crap.

Our book club has actually noted that more and more mainstream books are written for low attention span. Repeating details ad nauseum and simplifying the plot significantly. So I don't think books are immune to this automatically.

tombert 5d ago
I am not sure that that's recent. Most books, even before the internet, were kind of low-effort shit. You've always had terrible borderline-porn romance novels at grocery stores and terrible pulp novels and the like. We just don't read terrible novels from 100 years ago; whatever we read from that era now has survived the test of time. The same cannot be said about anything released in the last couple years.
- deleted 5d ago
  [deleted]
- pixl97 5d ago
  Also, quantity is a quality in and of itself. Grocery store softcore porn was still very expensive in time, money, and space. The amount of energy required to move a book around is monumental in comparison to how much energy it takes to move the same number of bits of information contained in the book. The speed at which just the information moves (in modern digital networks) is nearly instantaneous. The space the digital book carries is not measurable by the human senses. It was nearly impossible for most people to afford to fill every waking moment with a book in front of them, bar a few addicts. Now there is a river of information actively fighting for your eyeballs at every moment. And how the meme-gene works, the most addictive types will rise as the victor.

popalchemist 5d ago

Relatively true, but less true every day.

titzer 5d ago

> every other modern app tries to claw your eyes out. They do, and it's annoying that even apps for "real work" do the same thing by flashing notifications/tips in your face, advertising a new feature you don't want to use right now, or warning you that everything is about to break soon.

eatsyourtacos 5d ago

Good old PC video games are good at this as well. It's a joy to get into a game and not have anything else trying to pull you away with random crap.