Wired‘s Charlie Sorrel, whose blog entries have been mentioned a few times here on TeleRead, takes a swipe at e-books in an entry on "Five Antisocial Gadgets That Should be Banned." (The other four are speakerphones, Bluetooth headsets, custom ringtones, and satnav.) He tells the story of how being seen reading an e-book on his iPod at a café was a turn-off to an attractive woman at the next table.
Although all the evidence is that Sorrel does enjoy e-books, and the entry seems to be written with tongue firmly planted in cheek, he brings up an interesting point: does being seen reading an e-book endanger one’s chances with the opposite sex?
It seems to me that for every person who finds e-books a turn-off, there might be another who is every bit as impressed with the gadget as the other was turned off by its presumed nerdiness.
But more importantly, I am not so sure that it really matters—if I am absorbed in a book, the last thing I want is to be bothered by anyone of either gender.
“He tells the story of how being seen reading an e-book on his iPod at a café was a turn-off to an attractive woman at the next table.”
Its unclear from the anecdote if she was horrified that he was reading an e-book or just that he was reading a book, period. Anyway, yeah, if you want to pick up hot chicks, probably reading is not the best route to success.
BTW, presumably an honest answer like “surfing for pron” wouldn’t have gotten him any closer to his objective, so I’m not so sure it’s just the book reading here that’s the problem.
I think ebook reading should be required for anyone on the make — it would help weed out those folk whose idea of brain stimulation is a can of Billy Beer and a 60-inch TV dedicated to watching the WWF wrestlers scratch themselves. After all, how much time can one spend discussing scratching technique? At some point one has to be able to discuss the latest quandary of Batman with one’s date.
Hey, I’ll read ebooks in public til the day I die if it’ll deflect the bimbos who have ginormous purse collections at home. And really, any woman who is *turned off* by reading in public doesn’t have the brains to understand the concepts of curiosity and knowledge.
If I saw a guy reading an ebook, I would be thrilled to talk to him. I wouldn’t, though, for the simple fact that I don’t interrupt people who are reading. Similarly, if I am reading, I certainly don’t appreciate it when some guy tries to pick me up. The very act of reading (unless you’re reading aloud to a group) is antisocial!
Anyway, the story doesn’t sound so much like the woman was turned off by the reading, just perplexed by it.
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Comments:
“He tells the story of how being seen reading an e-book on his iPod at a café was a turn-off to an attractive woman at the next table.”
Its unclear from the anecdote if she was horrified that he was reading an e-book or just that he was reading a book, period. Anyway, yeah, if you want to pick up hot chicks, probably reading is not the best route to success.
BTW, presumably an honest answer like “surfing for pron” wouldn’t have gotten him any closer to his objective, so I’m not so sure it’s just the book reading here that’s the problem.
I think ebook reading should be required for anyone on the make — it would help weed out those folk whose idea of brain stimulation is a can of Billy Beer and a 60-inch TV dedicated to watching the WWF wrestlers scratch themselves. After all, how much time can one spend discussing scratching technique? At some point one has to be able to discuss the latest quandary of Batman with one’s date.
Hey, I’ll read ebooks in public til the day I die if it’ll deflect the bimbos who have ginormous purse collections at home. And really, any woman who is *turned off* by reading in public doesn’t have the brains to understand the concepts of curiosity and knowledge.
If I saw a guy reading an ebook, I would be thrilled to talk to him. I wouldn’t, though, for the simple fact that I don’t interrupt people who are reading. Similarly, if I am reading, I certainly don’t appreciate it when some guy tries to pick me up. The very act of reading (unless you’re reading aloud to a group) is antisocial!
Anyway, the story doesn’t sound so much like the woman was turned off by the reading, just perplexed by it.