Ebooks and Age - Page 6

GeoffR · 05-13-2016, 03:52 AM

Here is the original report.

I think the Guardian article might be overstating the case when it says:

Quote:

Research carried out for the ebook retailer Kobo finds three quarters of the most active readers are women over 45

The report only says that 75% are women and that 77% are over 45, so the number that are both women and over 45 is probably quite a bit less than three quarters.

pdurrant · 05-13-2016, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffR

The report only says that 75% are women and that 77% are over 45, so the number that are both women and over 45 is probably quite a bit less than three quarters.

We can get some maximum and minimums from those figures.

At MOST 75% are women over 45. And that's only if nearly all of the 25% male readers are under 45.

At LEAST 52% are women over 45. And that's if all of the 25% male readers are over 45.

pdurrant · 05-13-2016, 09:15 AM

At the OP's request I have modified the poll option titles. If you object to the new option titles, feel free to send me a PM.

Cinisajoy · 05-13-2016, 10:40 AM

Over 45 woman and read pretty much everything.

djulian · 05-13-2016, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

At the OP's request I have modified the poll option titles. If you object to the new option titles, feel free to send me a PM.

Thank you, @pdurrant!

And thank you to the MR community for the generally kind way you responded.

It's interesting how the results are coming out; it's fairly well split between men and women, and it still skews heavily towards 45+

Living in Spain, I've seen what seems like a strong reading culture, and I've noticed that many people here tend to read paper copies rather than on e-readers. The younger readers sit on the metro w/ their ereaders, but the readers over 45 all have a book in hand.

JSWolf · 05-13-2016, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shalym

I think this is what JSWolf is talking about. https://www.amazon.com/Love-Story-Bo.../dp/B005UCVVA6

Shari

Thanks. That is the exact book I am talking about.

JSWolf · 05-13-2016, 01:34 PM

Romeo and Juliet is probably the most famous tragic love story.

Alohamora · 05-14-2016, 10:16 AM

I'm female, over 45. I don't read romance at all. I feel like I have to say that so my vote in the poll doesn't get lumped in with the romance reading stereotype.
I do read cozy mysteries though. Also, I read a bit of fantasy and some time travel science fiction.

howyoudoin · 05-14-2016, 10:17 AM

People are free to call porn consumed by men over 45 as daddy porn. The reason the name hasn't stuck isn't sexism but the simple fact that significant works in that category do not exist yet*. It's as simple as that.

*Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Doesn't alter the argument. Please do go ahead and refer to it as daddy porn if it does. That would in my view be a suitable name for the genre, if it indeed is pornographic in content.

howyoudoin · 05-14-2016, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

50 Shades of Grey is badly written mommy porn.
Love Story is romance.

There is a difference.

Not saying there isn't, only that it isn't easy to define them separately in so many words, just as it isn't easy to define what constitutes a pornographic video as opposed to plain erotica.

I agree with your assessment there, but it is apparent why some would call their porn 'romance'.

cfrizz · 05-14-2016, 01:47 PM

For the longest time pornography was defined as every cities red light district with it's x-rated theaters, as well as the Playboy etc magazines which we all know was geared to men.

Times have changed and all these labels need to be dropped.

Romance is a gigantic genre that encompasses every type of story under the sun. Some of it has sex, some has no sex. Just because it has sex in it does NOT make it porn.

Are you engaging in porn every time you have sex with your significant other? If it's wrong to read about it in books, then it certainly is wrong to do it in the flesh!

Drop the labels, drop the Puritanical, hypocritical attitudes. Stop trying to make yourself feel superior by negatively labeling other people especially women because we are now free to do and read what we like.

Enjoy whatever you choose to read, and let everyone else enjoy what they like to read, without labeling them or the content they are reading.

howyoudoin · 05-14-2016, 02:18 PM

I sometimes read trashy crime novels. You know - the ones with half clad women on the cover (which may or may not be relevant to the story) that makes one feel embarrassed to read them in public? This is certainly not about feeling superior or being hypocritical. It's calling a spade a spade. I call those trashy crime novels what they are. I also call literary porn what it is - literary porn.

I can see the point about the undesirability of labelling them mommy porn. Fair enough. It demeans an entire demographic for no reason other than that most of the readers of literary porn seem to be from that demographic. Those of that demographic that do not read literary porn take umbrage at the lumping together. It as wrong to lump them all together as that label suggests, and I see the mistake.

But tis a step too far into denial to claim people aren't talking about literary porn when they are talking bout literary porn. Maybe the books you have in mind aren't those, but the one's I have in mind here are. So kindly desist from telling me that the sort of books you have in mind aren't the sort of books I have in mind. That might well be true, but have absolutely no relevance to the sort of books I have in mind here. Assuming what I have in mind, creating a strawman of what I have in mind, and going ahead and then proceeding to dismiss this strawman you've built makes no sense. You're talking about romance? Good. I'm talking about literary porn, not romance. Spare us the conflation.

And then there's the grade A irony in labeling others as puritanical hypocrites for not sharing your tastes. "If you don't share my tastes, you're a so-and-so" is what it reads as. Newsflash: It is possible for one to label literary porn as porn without considering it an undesirable form of literature. The label is not an assessment of moral character, at least as far as I am concerned. It's an observation, no more no less. A person's right to label a category of literature does not impinge on someone else's right to enjoy that literature. If the only way one can guarantee their enjoyment of that literature is to demean those who seemingly, in their uninformed view, disparage it, that speaks to their mentality.

crich70 · 05-14-2016, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffR

I think a big reason ebooks appeal to older people is simply eyesight. Being able to adjust the font size, line spacing, and font weight; and not being restricted to the limited selection available as large-print paper books. I doubt it is Kobo-specific.

That may be part of it. Also ebooks are quicker to purchase and have to hand of course. Certainly there are probably older readers who do have trouble getting around who find the ease of buying an ebook very convenient. I also think though that a number of readers (both older and younger) also at least on a subconscious level see ereaders and devices like the Kindle Fire as not unlike the P.A.D.D. that they had on ST:TNG and other spin offs a few decades back. Sort of a taste of the 24th century in the 21st.

crich70 · 05-14-2016, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

I sometimes read trashy crime novels. You know - the ones with half clad women on the cover (which may or may not be relevant to the story) that makes one feel embarrassed to read them in public? This is certainly not about feeling superior or being hypocritical. It's calling a spade a spade. I call those trashy crime novels what they are. I also call literary porn what it is - literary porn.

Any author's you would suggest for a good Crime novel?

Froide · 05-14-2016, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

People are free to call porn consumed by men over 45 as daddy porn. The reason the name hasn't stuck isn't sexism but the simple fact that significant works in that category do not exist yet*. It's as simple as that.

*Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Doesn't alter the argument. Please do go ahead and refer to it as daddy porn if it does. That would in my view be a suitable name for the genre, if it indeed is pornographic in content.

Is there a difference in porn consumed by men over 45 and by men 45 and under? If not, then calling it "daddy porn" would be a misnomer. And if so, I'm more inclined to call it "male midlife crisis porn" than "daddy porn".

View Poll Results: Who are you?
Woman 45 and under	25	13.59%
Woman over 45	52	28.26%
Man 45 and under	27	14.67%
Man over 45	71	38.59%
Non-binary 45 and under	0	0%
Non-binary over 45	0	0%
The blue one, next to the fish	9	4.89%
Voters: 184. You may not vote on this poll

05-14-2016, 02:18 PM	#87
howyoudoin how YOU doin? Posts: 1,100 Karma: 7371047 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: India Device: Kindle Keyboard, iPad Pro 10.5”, Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Libra 2	I sometimes read trashy crime novels. You know - the ones with half clad women on the cover (which may or may not be relevant to the story) that makes one feel embarrassed to read them in public? This is certainly not about feeling superior or being hypocritical. It's calling a spade a spade. I call those trashy crime novels what they are. I also call literary porn what it is - literary porn. I can see the point about the undesirability of labelling them mommy porn. Fair enough. It demeans an entire demographic for no reason other than that most of the readers of literary porn seem to be from that demographic. Those of that demographic that do not read literary porn take umbrage at the lumping together. It as wrong to lump them all together as that label suggests, and I see the mistake. But tis a step too far into denial to claim people aren't talking about literary porn when they are talking bout literary porn. Maybe the books you have in mind aren't those, but the one's I have in mind here are. So kindly desist from telling me that the sort of books you have in mind aren't the sort of books I have in mind. That might well be true, but have absolutely no relevance to the sort of books I have in mind here. Assuming what I have in mind, creating a strawman of what I have in mind, and going ahead and then proceeding to dismiss this strawman you've built makes no sense. You're talking about romance? Good. I'm talking about literary porn, not romance. Spare us the conflation. And then there's the grade A irony in labeling others as puritanical hypocrites for not sharing your tastes. "If you don't share my tastes, you're a so-and-so" is what it reads as. Newsflash: It is possible for one to label literary porn as porn without considering it an undesirable form of literature. The label is not an assessment of moral character, at least as far as I am concerned. It's an observation, no more no less. A person's right to label a category of literature does not impinge on someone else's right to enjoy that literature. If the only way one can guarantee their enjoyment of that literature is to demean those who seemingly, in their uninformed view, disparage it, that speaks to their mentality. Last edited by howyoudoin; 05-14-2016 at 02:20 PM.

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05-13-2016, 09:15 AM	#78
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,559 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	At the OP's request I have modified the poll option titles. If you object to the new option titles, feel free to send me a PM.

05-13-2016, 10:40 AM	#79
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Over 45 woman and read pretty much everything.

05-13-2016, 01:34 PM	#82
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,428 Karma: 129358310 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Romeo and Juliet is probably the most famous tragic love story.

05-14-2016, 10:16 AM	#83
Alohamora Evangelist Posts: 446 Karma: 8897438 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: USA Device: Android phone, Fire tablet, ios phone	I'm female, over 45. I don't read romance at all. I feel like I have to say that so my vote in the poll doesn't get lumped in with the romance reading stereotype. I do read cozy mysteries though. Also, I read a bit of fantasy and some time travel science fiction.

05-14-2016, 10:17 AM	#84
howyoudoin how YOU doin? Posts: 1,100 Karma: 7371047 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: India Device: Kindle Keyboard, iPad Pro 10.5”, Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Libra 2	People are free to call porn consumed by men over 45 as daddy porn. The reason the name hasn't stuck isn't sexism but the simple fact that significant works in that category do not exist yet. It's as simple as that. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Doesn't alter the argument. Please do go ahead and refer to it as daddy porn if it does. That would in my view be a suitable name for the genre, if it indeed is pornographic in content.

05-14-2016, 01:47 PM	#86
cfrizz Wizard Posts: 1,531 Karma: 34583358 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Quincy, MA Device: Samsung 54A, Kobo Libra H2O, Samsung S6 Lite	For the longest time pornography was defined as every cities red light district with it's x-rated theaters, as well as the Playboy etc magazines which we all know was geared to men. Times have changed and all these labels need to be dropped. Romance is a gigantic genre that encompasses every type of story under the sun. Some of it has sex, some has no sex. Just because it has sex in it does NOT make it porn. Are you engaging in porn every time you have sex with your significant other? If it's wrong to read about it in books, then it certainly is wrong to do it in the flesh! Drop the labels, drop the Puritanical, hypocritical attitudes. Stop trying to make yourself feel superior by negatively labeling other people especially women because we are now free to do and read what we like. Enjoy whatever you choose to read, and let everyone else enjoy what they like to read, without labeling them or the content they are reading.

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