Featured Posts
  • Romney Calls Santorum the ‘D’ Word

    Romney Calls Santorum the 'D' Word

    Mitt Romney believes that his best line of attack is making the claim that he has not spent a moment as a D.C. politician while his two main opponents, Newt ...

    Read More

  • Holy Rick Santorum, Batman!

    Holy Rick Santorum, Batman!

    No two ways about it, Rick Santorum had a good night. Not only did he sweep Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri but he also got off the best line of the ...

    Read More

  • “We the Rich…”

    We the Rich...

    Few would argue the fact that Citizens United has been a major player in the Republican primary...and many if not most would concede that none of it has been healthy ...

    Read More

  • A Romney Victory Is Ensured With Trump’s Endorsement ()

    A Romney Victory Is Ensured With Trump's Endorsement ()

    As if you needed another reason to not vote Romney. Celebrity business magnate Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for president Thursday, telling reporters he will not mount an independent campaign if ...

    Read More

  • Why I Love Newt Gingrich

    Why I Love Newt Gingrich

    In a perfect world, the Republican contest to find a nominee to face Barack Obama would go on forever...or at least until August. You cannot attach a number to the ...

    Read More

  • Republican Cannibalism

    Republican Cannibalism

    I suspect there are a ton of conservatives secretly agreeing with Begala and while it's too early in the game for Dems to get cocky, it's difficult to not smile ...

    Read More

  • Romney Hood

    Romney Hood

    One of our readers sent me an email with an idea for an illustration - Mitt Romney as Romney Hood. I thought it was brilliant and came up with the ...

    Read More

  • Why Do People Take an Instant Dislike To Newt Gingrich?

    Why Do People Take an Instant Dislike To Newt Gingrich?

    Quotes don't get much better than this one by Bob Dole. "Why do people take such an instant dislike to me?" asked a perplexed Gingrich, to whom Dole bluntly ...

    Read More

  • Gingrich Takes A Thrashing

    Gingrich Takes A Thrashing

    After the beating Gingrich took last night, it's hard to imagine under what scenario he can make a comeback.  Florida is going to Romney and for Gingrich to regain the ...

    Read More

  • SOTU

    SOTU

    There's a lot out there on the President's SOTU, so I'll keep my thoughts short and sweet. The speech did what it had to do which was target liberals and independents ...

    Read More

  • Just Another GOP Debate

    Just Another GOP Debate

    The highlights from last night's debate. - Newt Gingrich can't wait to become president so he can revisit the early 60s and overthrow Castro in Cuba. War, baby, war. - Santorum, who ...

    Read More

  • No More Mister Nice Guy for Mitt Romney

    No More Mister Nice Guy for Mitt Romney

    It appears that the South Carolina verdict is forcing Romney to start taking Gingrich seriously. “We’re not choosing a talk show host, we’re choosing a leader,” Romney said, saying that their ...

    Read More

  • Mike Huckabee Solidifies His Birther Creds

    Mike Huckabee Solidifies His Birther Creds

    Mike Huckabee offers advice to Mitt Romney concerning his unreleased tax returns. Let him [Romney] make this challenge: "I'll release my tax returns when Barack Obama releases his college transcripts and ...

    Read More

  • Late Night Political Humor

    Late Night Political Humor

    Via Political Humor... "Mitt Romney is coming under fire because even though he is a multimillionaire, he only paid 15 percent in taxes. That's not a tax, that's barely a tip." ...

    Read More

  • The Last Word On Jon Huntsman

    The Last Word On Jon Huntsman

    Good line. My guess is that after Romney fails to beat Obama in the general, Huntsman will be back in 2016.  The most electable guy in the field and he could ...

    Read More

  • Does Romney Urinate Straight Down His Leg?

    Does Romney Urinate Straight Down His Leg?

    I found this pretty funny...and accurate. It comes from a reader over at Balloon Juice. So, let’s review. The contenders for the GOP nomination are A vulture capitalist who believes that any ...

    Read More

  • The Constitution – Libertarian’s False Idol

    The Constitution - Libertarian's False Idol

    Lively little debate going on at one of last week's posts with Libertarianism put under the microscope. ocLiberal: I know I am in sketchy territory here, (start the indignant shouting now) but ...

    Read More

  • Gingrich’s Delusional Politics

    Gingrich's Delusional Politics

    In the contest to determine the winner of the Far-Right Politics gold medal, rack up a few more points for Newt Gingrich. “I think an intelligent conservative wants the right federal ...

    Read More

  • Late Night Political Humor

    Late Night Political Humor

    Via Political Humor... "Congratulations to Mitt Romney. He won the New Hampshire primary last night. See, this is proof that even the multimillionaire son of a multimillionaire can beat the odds ...

    Read More

  • What Do North Korea and Indiana Have In Common?

    What Do North Korea and Indiana Have In Common?

    Story 1: North Korea punishing those who 'didn't display enough sadness over Kim Jong Il's death' North Korean authorities are reportedly punishing citizens who did not display enough sadness over the death ...

    Read More

The Evolution of Reading

Fascinating study of how Americans gather information.
.
6a00d83451c45669e2012876461df6970c-500wi

.

The use of different media has changed dramatically over time. It is a cliché that reading is in decline. But on the other hand we get considerable information from the Internet, which is a heavy print medium. Do we really read less? We show this evolution in Figure 6 Evolution of Reading. Conventional print media has fallen from 26 percent of INFOW in 1960 to 9 percent in 2008. However, this has been more than counterbalanced by the rise of the Internet and local computer programs, which now provide 27 percent of INFOW. Conventional print provides an additional 9 percent. In other words, reading as a percentage of our information consumption has increased in the last 50 years, if we use words themselves as the unit of measurement.

___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.

.

Comments

  1. ME says:

    Thus creating UTUBE society. Wonder how warm and cuddly that concept is? Dissemination of information by non-experts is a scary thing.

  2. JT says:

    I find the ratio of phone between the 80′s & this decade surprising. In my experience it seems that the Internet has all but supplanted the telephone let alone personal interaction but then of course that could just be my experience.

    Very interesting study Mario.

  3. ME says:

    @JT I feel the same way. It has taken the personal interaction away and made it easier and safer to stay within these pages.

  4. janine says:

    I have a different experience. The internet has made communication somewhat richer and wider of reach. I can talk to people across the globe via skype and yahoo voice for little or no cost. Twitter, texting, instant messaging, Email, Facebook, and other social networking sites facilitate staying in contact with family and friends daily (whereas before such interactions were at holidays and sometime lunches and trading voice mail messages).

    The access to world news is immediate and enriching. I can read the news, from home and abroad, on the internet.

    My nieces and nephews have access to the world at their fingertips. They are more well versed in world politics and events than I was at their young age.

    U Tube has a lot to offer as well, beyond the funny little vids (of course I could watch funny animal vids all day long but…) there are educational vids, historical vids…. the amount of information is endless.

    All this has not lessened my personal interaction but expanded said interaction. Most of us humans are social creatures after all, we interact with co-workers, friends and family. Oft times in person and oft times via the internet.

    Communication is interaction. I say communicate however you are able and however it will be best received by the person with whom you are communicating.

  5. janine says:

    P.S. the greater concern should be the rise of television for information consumption. That certainly decreases personal interaction.

  6. Frances says:

    Social networking is just another way I can feel guilty about not keeping in touch with my friends. :D

  7. Melody Brynne says:

    Janine, I met you here! If it hadn’t been for Mario inviting me to guest blog here, we would not have experienced the relationship we have now! I treasure what we have and I am forever indebted to the internet for bringing us together! I also met my late husband and my current husband on the internet! My life has been forever enriched, changed and blessed by the internet! Also, the internet has made it possible to search for more real books online and my husband and myself have active accounts buying books plus Janine honors me with incredible choices! I will never stop reading! I’m sure there are many like me who will use the internet to simply find more life-altering books to make our lives better! Thanks Mario, for being here and for challenging us to keep well-informed!