It figures that just as soon as it become possible to easily publish a book the world stops reading them.  Ah, technology, wonderful and cruel.  Like so many pre-internet activities, reading was one of those things done out of boredom more than anything else.  Your options used to be working, watching the grass grow, or reading.  That made reading an attractive option.  Today, there is no need to put in all the heavy labor of actually reading a book.  If a book is any good, someone will make it into a motion picture.  Of course most people don’t go to the movies anymore either.  Why bother?  Wait a few months and it will be on DVD.  Then again who watches DVDs anymore when you can just stay at home and have it streamed directly to your television.

Through deductive reasoning the main driving forces behind human behavior is alleviating boredom and avoiding any effort whatsoever.  Books used to be really popular, but now turning all of those pages and having to imagine things is just too much work.  Today it is much better to sit in front of a screen and wait for entertaining and imaginative worlds to be steamed before your eyes.  If there is any instinct left to work, play an online game where for the minimal effort of moving your fingers a little you can mine exotic ores and forge fantastic swords and armor, and then join up with other players to defeat dragons, monsters, or opposing armies — all while burning no more than a single potato chip’s worth of calories.

I think the only readers left in the world are those with exceptionally good imaginations.  These rare individuals can actually produce an inner world that Hollywood just can’t match.  My sister is like this.  She is always disappointed in the movie versions of the books she loves, like the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Sure, I read the trilogy too, long ago, but I didn’t really notice all the story lines that were cut out to cram those books into three long motion pictures, or the details that were altered in some way — but my sister did, and she found the movies offensive.  Despite the tremendous effort put into the movies, they couldn’t match her imagination or even come close.  Some people were similarly disappointed by the Harry Potter movies.

Anyway, I would guess that I have an OK imagination, but I just can’t remember anything for very long.  I like the book, and then I like the movie too.  If I wait a few years, I can watch the movie again and it might as well be a new release because I will remember very little from the previous viewing.

Then again, watching a whole hours-long movie is becoming such a commitment.  I think we might also be approaching the post-movie era.  Soon most of us will just wait for the multiplayer online version of the movie to come out, so we can actually participate in the story by moving our fingers a little.  No imagination will be necessary.

Oh well, at least now it is simple to get my stories published.