---
title: "Comment of the Day: Reading (and Writing) Online"
date: 2008-03-17
author: "Richard MacManus"
categories:
  - name: "ReadWriteWeb"
    url: "/category/readwriteweb.md"
tags:
  - name: "2008"
    url: "/tag/2008.md"
---

# Comment of the Day: Reading (and Writing) Online

![](https://web.archive.org/web/20081223185055im_/http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/books/kidreadingpc.jpg)Sarah Perez [wrote today](https://web.archive.org/web/20081223185055/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/people_do_read_they_just_do_it_online.php): “When Amazon introduced their e-book reader, the Kindle, Steve Jobs made a strong proclamation regarding the book industry that received a lot of attention: “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore \[…\]” As it turns out, he was only half-right. People read, even those in the younger generation, they just prefer to do it online.” Backing that sentiment up was a comment by Sean Mulholland, [who said](https://web.archive.org/web/20081223185055/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/people_do_read_they_just_do_it_online.php#comment-49519) that he’s a good example of a digital native: “I hardly ever read books. Probably only about one or two a year, and even then they’re typically non-fiction as opposed to ‘literature’.”

Congratulations Sean, you’ve won a $30 Amazon voucher – courtesy of our competition sponsors AdaptiveBlue and their [Netflix Queue Widget](https://web.archive.org/web/20081223185055/http://www.adaptiveblue.com/widgets_auto.html?section=nfx&name=Personalized%20Feed).

Here’s Sean’s full comment:

> “My ‘gut feeling’ thoughts exactly…good to hear them supported with data!
> 
> I’m a great example of the digital native (though I haven’t been a teen for some time, I was an early net adopter in the early 90’s when I actually was a teen). Like you mentioned, I hardly ever read books. Probably only about one or two a year, and even then they’re typically non-fiction as opposed to ‘literature’. Magazines? Only during flights.
> 
> Despite that, I scored a perfect 6/6 GMAT writing score, and my while I forget the specific verbal vs. quantitative, my overall was in the 97th percentile.
> 
> Granted, one could argue I’m missing out on the cultural value associated with great literary works, however because I tend to lean toward heavier reading (quality news, science, etc) I don’t think I’m missing out too much with regards to developing or maintaining my reading ability. And because of blogs, forums, and email, I probably write several dozen pages worth of text each week, which is probably more than many members of previous generations can claim!”

*Originally published on ReadWriteWeb ([archived copy](https://web.archive.org/web/20020204040018/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/reading_and_writing_online_trends_2008.php))*