Arcane Hobbies of the Future

Old news: Reading is in decline, and the likes of endeavors such as the Google Books Project and gadgets such as Kindle are hastening the transformation of the book as we know it to such an extent that, well, what exactly? "Because the change has been happening slowly for decades, everyone has a sense of what is at stake, though it is rarely put into words," writes Caleb Crain in a recent New Yorker article. Crain's piece takes a look at literacy through the ages; his conclusions, as one might expect, are not only wildly flattering to the reading sort ("readers are more likely than non-readers to play sports, exercise, visit art museums, attend theatre, paint, go to music events, take photographs, and volunteer," oh, and they're better-looking than non-readers too), but also perhaps more than a bit scary for civilization at large ...