Why is it that avid book readers are becoming increasingly rare?

In answer to Quora question "Why is it that avid book readers are becoming increasingly rare?"

A2A. Some thoughts off the top of my head:

Avid book readers have always been rare.

Netflix, Amazon and other streaming video provides easy alternate means of accessing classic literature in movie form.

Reading attention spans are getting shorter and shorter - from texting to Twitter to emails the expectation of brevity and frequency have usurped the expectation of quality and depth in writing that previous generations enjoyed.

As real wages decrease, the amount of available media and information increases, expectations of job commitment and family engagement increase, and the level of know-how and affluence to support various popular hobbies and recreational activities also increases, time is an increasingly valuable commodity - and exponentially so.

* In the U.S. at least, there is a high expectation of pop-culture literacy (celebrity obsession, fluency in the hippest media and entertainment, etc.) intersecting with a high expectation of technology literacy (the latest portable gadgets and media formats, etc.), which combine to obliterate all but the most stubborn bibliophile's interest in reading a book.

My 2 cents.

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