Kindles on Airplanes
by Stacey
One day last week, I found myself reading the ‘business travel’ section in the USA Today. The headline of the article was “Don’t forget to pack a good book” and there was a side bar listing frequent fliers favorite titles. I figured I would record a few of the books and move on to other sections. I found myself, though, reading the entire article. Parts of it were obvious; frequent travelers would rather get lost in a good book than worry about the headaches of travel, busy people find flying the only time they can read and reading gives business travelers a chance to clear their head and come back to business projects with renewed energy.
What I found really interesting however were the comments that people made about increased Kindle use among fliers.
The article states,
“Frequent flier Bailey Allard laments their use. Allard a consultant in Chapel Hill, N.C., says she used to enjoy walking down an airplane aisle seeing what books in the hands of passengers were popular. She remembers being impressed by the number of adults, particularly businessmen- reading Harry Potter, for example.
“Seat mate conversation was often sparked by seeing your seat mate reading a book that you had read,” Allard says. “It was an opportunity for two traveling strangers to connect in conversation of mutual reading enjoyment.”
I sure do love my Kindle but I may just think twice before I bring it on my next flight. Who knows who I might meet if I bring an honest to goodness book.
I brought Devotion on my flight,almost finished and loving every page of it. Thank you again xoxo
Yeah! So glad you liked it. Dani Shapiro is leading a workshop at Kripalu in November… I’m thinking about going- It’s based on her new book which is called “Still Writing: The Pleasure and Pain of Living a Creative Life.”
Sounds pretty good, right?
YES! This definitely resonates with me since I experience something similar while riding the T in Boston. I don’t commute on it every day like I used to, but I do ride occasionally. My favorite part was always looking at what books everyone had their noses in, and, if I was really feeling bold, chatting with a few of the folks who happened to be reading books I’d already read (these kinds of courtesies among strangers are not always well-received in these parts, but with books as a segue, usually it ended up with a fun conversation). Now, I just scan the rows of seats and virtually everyone is using technology of some sort and you just look creepy if you start staring at them too long. Too bad Kindle and Apple didn’t make the devices to show the covers on the backside 🙂
I would love it if we could see the covers on the outside of the Kindle- what fun that would be!