http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9060501&pageNumber=1 "In an essay in The American Thinker, writer Lawrence Murray warns of a "new Dark Age" brought about by a combination of information overload, the "passivation of leisure" and the "triumph of triviality." In other words, technology in general has caused our culture to evolve into one in which long-form books can't compete for our attention against the onslaught of Internet celebrity gossip, YouTube videos and iPod music. Much of the world is following America down the literary toilet. But one interesting exception is, of all places, Japan."
Japanese popular culture not only reflects the attitudes and concerns of the present but also provides a link to the past. Popular films, television programs, comics, and music all developed from older artistic and literary traditions, and many of their themes and styles of presentation can be traced to traditional art forms. Contemporary forms of popular culture, much like the traditional forms, provide not only entertainment but also an escape for the contemporary Japanese from the problems of an industrial world. When asked how they spent their leisure time, 80 percent of a sample of men and women surveyed by the government in 1986 said they averaged about two and one-half hours per weekday watching television, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers or magazines. Some 16 percent spent an average of two and one-quarter hours a day engaged in hobbies or amusements. Others spent leisure time participating in sports, socializing, and personal study. Teenagers and retired people reported more time spent on all of these activities than did other groups. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_culture The most popular drugs in fast-paced Japanese society are nicotine, alcohol and caffeine followed by Amphetamine in form of speed and ice. The Yakuza organized crime gangs run the trade and it goes on without the government paying much attention to it. In 1995, there was an increase to 19,400 arrests for speed. Compare that to a decreasing 1,500 for pot in 1995. (Young) Perhaps, the slanted priority is because of the Yakuza’s wide influence throughout Japanese politics and business. Recently their is more cry for legalization to reduce the cash flow to the gangs as the usage increases. Says writer Nobuhiro Motobashi, “The Yakuza are running a dirty trade in drugs which could be seriously damaged if you relaxed marijuana restrictions and at the same time tightened laws to catch hard drug traffickers. In my own experience, marijuana isn’t that dangerous, not like amphetamines or cocaine.” http://www.taima.org/uncleweed/today.htm
How can it be the new dark age? Just because people favoring pdf files to paper books? Does the writer know, how many eBooks are available? nor to mention audio books and video documentaries....
My guess is that nobody reads Ebooks. OK, I am exaggerating, but people who read actually like to hold a paper copy in their hands. Today's kids are reading abbreviated IMs and not literature, that was the point of the article. Not all readings are equal!!
Well, my family reads eBooks, eMagazines etc....I get 15 trade magazines via eMail. Some are available at ebookshare.net that I think you can purchase. The just published books, we get it from the library and if good, order from BN or Amazon.
