Steve Jobs was quoted today on LM_NET in reference Amazon’s new Kindle book reader:

“Today he had a wide range of observations on the industry, including the Amazon Kindle book reader, which he said would go nowhere largely because Americans have stopped reading. ‘It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.'”
I wonder…. Has he shared this view with Jeff Bezos? I know, I know… Amazon is not just books. They have diversified their inventory. Still – they have done pretty well with books over the years. Truth be told, I have “warm, fuzzy” feelings about Amazon, because it was the first internet business I patronized. As a matter of fact – I patronized it so often that they sent me a thank-you present at the end of the year. Time to let the credit card cool down a little bit =)

If I had only bought stock with them….I’d be retired now, sipping pina coladas under a palm tree.

Anyway – I am always puzzled by statements like this reporting on the decline of reading. Perhaps it is just my community, but every time I go into a public library or Barnes & Noble, they are packed. If all folks wanted was a mocha latte, they’d be hanging out in Starbucks.