I am currently subscribed to 103 (mostly technical) blogs and websites via Google Reader. If you think that’s insane, then you’re right.
Truth is, I only read a tiny amount of articles, let’s say 5%. Most of the time I just scan for interesting titles, read a few sentences here and there, and then mark everything as read. This is not true for a small subset of blogs, that I actually enjoy reading, but the vast majority of the content is just wasted on me, even when it’s about topics I care.
The problem is that blogs, websites and other online news outlets amplify the attention span deficit that lives – and grows – inside everyone of us. There are always things flashing around, links to click, pictures to look at… it’s like a luna park with lots of attractions that you cannot miss because they’re so shiny!
At some point, I even find myself interested in an article, but end up not reading it because it’s too long and I couldn’t make it past the first link. You know, TL;DR.
This doesn’t happen to me with books (I mean novels and such). And I only read books on my Kindle.
I think the key point is that reading on a e-book reader is almost the same as reading a paper book. It doesn’t have anything flashing around, there are no links to follow, and pictures are very limited. In other words, a book, either digital or analog, allows you to focus precisely on what you’re reading, without distractions. It’s just you and the book.
I am not sure that a full-fledged tablet like the Kindle Fire allows to read a book with the same level of focus and the same lack of distractions. There is a browser just a couple taps away. There is email. There are movies, and YouTube. There are Facebook and Twitter. Even ignoring the fact that reading on a LCD screen causes much more fatigue to the eyes than reading on a e-ink device, I strongly believe that if you like reading, then you don’t want a tablet with the entire Internet tempting you to lurk around, letting your brain lose – and waste – the concentration level that is so hard to achieve and that only a book can give you.