As reported by TheBookseller.com, research conducted in the UK by HarperCollins, the Trade Publishers Council, and the National Year of Reading (NYR) suggests the book trade is "too intimidating" for lower income, non-professional families. The research found that many such families, numbering up to 20 million, view books as "alien and unattractive" and consider reading as "an anti-social activity for people who don't know how to live."
NYR project director Honor Wilson-Fletcher said: "[I]ntentionally or otherwise, a lot of people involved in the book world are conveying the impression that reading is associated with a particular area of society and lifestyle."
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Interesting story. Part of it has to do with not knowing how to buy cheap used books. Also, the entertainment lives of lower class families revolves around the TV. When the TV is on, it's hard for kids to read.
That said, having a cell phone is associated with being cool, and eventually that will mean more reading on portable devices for everyone.
Speaking of TV, I never watched TV that much, but lately I find I turn on the TV less and less.
Are we ever going to come to a point where broadcast TV will just be irrelevant for everybody?
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