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Tom Foster on the Kindle
Tom, a loyal MR reader, writes to me:
I've been following your Kindle posts for a while now and something that struck me is the signalling effects of reading a book versus a reading using a Kindle - yes I read Robin Hanson's blog too!
Reading with a Kindle, the signal is relatively constant and, at the moment, is something like "I'm an early technology adopter and I like to read". As the Kindle gets more commonplace the efficacy of this signal will, I think, diminish. Compare this with the signalling effects of reading a traditional book, where you signal to people not only that you like to read, but crucially what you are reading.
I wonder if Kindle advocates are underestimating how important it is for people to show those around them not just that they like to read, but also what they like to read?
Posted by Tyler Cowen on March 26, 2009 at 07:53 AM in Books, Web/Tech | Permalink
Comments
Tom must not read many books checked out from his university library. The binding machine they use tends to ruin the signal of what I am reading. Does "faceless brown hardback" count as a signal?
Posted by: Curt Fischer at Mar 26, 2009 8:11:57 AM
Maybe people don't want to signal what they are reading. The Kindle allows one to read something that the surrounding group might not accept without them knowing it.
By the way, on the last episode of Dollhouse, the pharse "throw the Kindle at me," was used.
Posted by: David Pinto at Mar 26, 2009 8:17:26 AM
Or, maybe, Kindle readers don't care? How many ebook readers are not used in public spaces? And how many books do people read that sit on a table or nightstand next to a bed in the bedroom (and that were delivered by mail or UPS)?
Possibly, those concerned about signalling with books are folks who signal with books, and assume anyone who reads has similar motivations....
"Innocence is ever simple and credulous. Conscious of no designs itself, it suspects none in others."
-- Excerpt from William Wirt's Defense of Harman Blennerhassett in the Burr Trial
Posted by: fish on a bicycle at Mar 26, 2009 8:19:34 AM
That's a great insight. I wonder if we'll eventually see Kindle's that have hard-glass protected LCDs on theirs back, displaying the corresponding book cover.
Posted by: Stewart Ulm at Mar 26, 2009 8:25:18 AM
c'mon, let's turn the page on the Kindle dilemma.....
sorry, i couldn't resist
;-)
Posted by: franko at Mar 26, 2009 8:25:25 AM
I think Tom may be on to something. Consider bookshelves. Right now I am sitting in front of three different bookshelves, each displaying racks of books that I own. Most of these books I will never read again. So why don't I get rid of them, sell them to a second hand store, or give them away? And given that I am going to keep them, why not keep them in a box somewhere? Why have them prominently displayed?
Kindle allows you to keep the books you read, but there is no display factor involved.
Posted by: Blackadder at Mar 26, 2009 8:25:41 AM
Two of my first purchases for the Kindle were a book about sex and a book from the For Dummies series. All things considered, I think the world is a more interesting place when our reading choice can be private.
Before the Kindle I mainly read library books on the subway. And as Curt says (above), that meant a lot of brown and blue hardbacks. Now I read library books in bed, exclusively.
I am embarrassed to use my Kindle in public. I angle it so that people around me can't see it. I feel strange about watching video on my iPod, too.
Posted by: Lee at Mar 26, 2009 8:38:29 AM
This is a bit like the article by the guy that did the article on creative procrastination. I was probably pointed to it on this site.
The same people who were taking notes on laptops a few years ago are the ones taking notes on lab notebooks once they figured out laptops aren't great for note-taking and are no longer cool.
Maybe Amazon needs to sell a book cover to slip the kindle into.
Being completely functional, or at least liking to think I am, I haven't felt any desire for a kindle. It seems the downloading new books is the big draw, and I have shelves of unread books. I'm a man baby!
Posted by: Andrew at Mar 26, 2009 8:47:15 AM
Like some the previous commenters, I *like* the privacy associated with the Kindle. I don't want people to know what I'm reading. For example, right now I'm reading the Bible, but I don't want my colleagues to think of me as a Jesus freak.
Relatedly, many years ago, when I used to commute by train, I was reading a collection of Carlyle's essays. When I got to his "Occasional Discourse on the N----- Question," I folded a little piece of paper in half and slipped it over the top margin of each right-hand page, so that no one would see the header.
Posted by: JP at Mar 26, 2009 8:51:08 AM
Does "faceless brown hardback" count as a signal?
Yes, a pretty strong one.
Posted by: db at Mar 26, 2009 9:11:52 AM
Tom's comment is perceptive. It reminds how signalling contributed to the Toyota Prius's dominance in the compact hybrid market. The form factors of the Prius are instantly recognizable and immediately signal the attributes one associates with a Prius owner. The Civic hybrid looks like a compact Honda automobile with minimal form factor differentiation.
http://www.autofocus.com.ph/images/car/honda-civic-hybrid-2008-picture.jpg
Posted by: John Sterling at Mar 26, 2009 9:13:31 AM
Also, what % of residential real estate square footage is used for storing and displaying books? With the kindle etc so obviously on the horizon -- is it possible that people have scaled down their future real estate square footage needs? Was this a catalyst for popping the real estate bubble?
Posted by: babar at Mar 26, 2009 9:25:26 AM
I think that the Kindle serves as a rather poor signal of early adoption. The slow, unlit, gray-scale screen is rather unimpressive next to just about any other device on the market today. And the true strengths of the e-paper technology that goes into the Kindle (long battery life, low eye strain) are difficult to convey to anyone who hasn't used the device for more than an hour. I've tried to describe or demonstrate it for a few friends and family members who were curious, and many of them just seemed puzzled afterwards.
Conversely, I expect that many people are signaling more with books than simply that they are reading, and what they are reading. For instance, many people enjoy displaying collections of books prominently in their homes (I'm reminded of a line from the movie Anchorman: "I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany"). For many of these people the signal is not so much "I am reading", but "I read".
Posted by: Matt at Mar 26, 2009 9:28:02 AM
I can think of a number of times when strangers have struck up conversations with me because of the book I was reading (at least two of them started because I was holding Alan Greenspan's autobiography) and, of course, those conversations lead to book suggestions ("Where do Underpants Come From?" being my favorite one). I guess you could ask someone with a Kindle what they were reading, but that seems a little forward to me and I definitely wouldn't do it.
Posted by: UK at Mar 26, 2009 9:30:40 AM
"Maybe people don't want to signal what they are reading."
I think the overwhelming evidence of this is to the contrary - see comments on full book cases, of which we're all guilty. Think not of the early adopter who probably cares more about the technology signal than the literary one, but mainstream readers.
That said, maybe the positive benefits of a Kindle will overcome the signaling desire to show others what you are reading, time will tell.
Posted by: Tom Foster at Mar 26, 2009 9:41:42 AM
In Japan it's standard practice to use a paper book cover received at purchase. In fact, it's rare that you will see a book being read without one.
Don't the Japanese like to signal their reading habits? Perhaps the kindle will prove more popular across the pacific.
Posted by: Ham at Mar 26, 2009 9:46:34 AM
In response to Tom Foster, there are certainly places and people who don't want to signal what they're reading for various reasons. As an example, in former Communist Bloc countries, older generations still wrap their books in paper while riding public transportation to prevent other riders from seeing what they're reading.
Posted by: JK at Mar 26, 2009 9:59:27 AM
Displaying books on your personal shelf is far different from reading in public...I hate when strangers can see what I am currently reading, whether it is a scholarly journal or the New York Post, but I love for my house guests to see what's on my shelf. It gives them a chance to understand me better as a friend. But random train passengers...I could care less. That is why I can't decide if the Kindle is a right fit for me.
Posted by: Meds at Mar 26, 2009 10:08:37 AM
I postively like book shelves as wall decoration, they have a nice repetitve rhythm combined with changes in color and size and position. It's a bit like music.
And any wall decoration is going to be either IKEA-impersonal or a big signal about you or what you want to be. And while a single book to carry with you can be chosen as artificial signalling (I think Sartre tomes where exclusively sold for that purpose), all the books you ever bought are going to be a pretty honest sample of your interests.
Posted by: Zamfir at Mar 26, 2009 10:12:29 AM
Judging by this thread it seems book readers are social animals and Kindle readers more likely to be misanthropes.
Posted by: vanya at Mar 26, 2009 10:19:18 AM
how can i signal something important -- like which blogs i read?
Posted by: babar at Mar 26, 2009 10:30:06 AM
I wonder if Kindle advocates are underestimating how important it is for people to show those around them not just that they like to read, but also what they like to read?
I have almost the precise opposite impulse -- I don't want others to know what I'm reading -- which is one reason I usually read off a Sony Reader during my commute. Sometimes, it's just client confidentiality reasons (if I'm reading deposition transcripts or whatever for work). But even with casual reading, if I'm reading something highfalutin, it looks as though I'm showing off, and if I'm reading something insipid, well, that's embarassing too. I don't read English novels in public anymore for this reason, and I always put foreign (Japanese) novels in those little brown paper covers that the bookstores give you.
Posted by: Taeyoung at Mar 26, 2009 10:31:10 AM
Vanya -- Or maybe it means that there are "readers," and then there are READERS. ;-)
Posted by: JP at Mar 26, 2009 10:31:10 AM
I also have many bookshelves in my home, and I don't generally entertain company and those I do have over have very different reading habits compared to myself. Thus direct signaling is not what I would consider a primary motive - in fact, any girls I would invite over would probably be scared off looking at my bookshelves :). Anyway, to a large degree I think books, especially those I will most likely never read again, serve as a form of art - just like a picture or painting. That art value, for me, is pretty high and is directly influencing my decision to purchase a Kindle. I use InformIT's Safari subscription service for many of my technical books but I think my "art value" for technical books is much lower than for non-technical so I don't feel like I am loosing out on that aspect of my life.
The biggest drawback of "books-as-art" is having to move them. The biggest advantage is that they can provide hours of escape - even during a re-read - in addition to their physical artistry.
Posted by: David J at Mar 26, 2009 10:36:11 AM
But the Kindle gives the rest of a us a chance to icebreak with, "What are you reading?" and signal that we are literate, curious, and well, curious
Posted by: Hell-Mikey at Mar 26, 2009 10:44:35 AM
