I’ve never used a smartphone, and when I’m walking around I don’t usually wear the reading glasses I need since cataract surgery. It I’m going to be waiting a few minutes, I’ll close my eyes, lean back and relax. If there’s a convenient window, I look out it. And when there are other people around, as there were when we were waiting at our favorite seafood restaurant, I sometimes strike up a conversation.
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I cannot just sit and do nothing. That will drive me nuts! I’ve seen lots of people just staring off into space in doctors’/dentists’ offices. They’d just sit there without moving until their names are called. I don’t know how they do that. I used to always carry a magazine to read before a smartphone came along,
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Magazines. Used to subscribe to a lot of them (Smithsonian, Scientific American, Nat. Geo., Macworld, etc.). Took one or two whenever I anticipated wait time somewhere. Still prefer that format from an esthetic perspective, despite the advantages of their digital counterparts.
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Newspaper, usually. After I’ve read it, I’ll try the crossword: The Times’s cryptic usually keeps me occupied for long enough.
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I always have had a book in my purse (a kindle now). Would have never gone anywhere without one!
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Absolutely with you Adam about compulsive reading. I’ve also always found it very difficult to skim books and articles, and not read every word.
But what I wanted to ask: when you’re in a country whose language you don’t speak do you find it annoying that you can’t understand all the text you see in public places? If the language doesn’t even use the Roman alphabet—say in Greece, or Japan, or Arabic countries—so I can’t even make the sound of the words in my head, I actually find I’m in a continuous state of frustration.
Am I truly weird, or does anyone else suffer from this condition? Do psychologists have a name for it?
Since there are a lot of readers here (including me): one great thing about physical books is that you can often see what others are reading. I have often asked strangers about their books or whether they liked the book they are reading, which lead to a number of interesting conversations.
With phones you don’t see what people read and if people play games (which we do see) I am not interested in talking to them 
.
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I’m usually a control freak; not being able to manage what I do, and what is done to me, disturbs me. In France, I can get by reasonably well, both reading and speaking. In Italy, Spain and other European countries, I have rather more difficulty but as you observe, being able to read text is reassuring and allows educated guesswork (all that Latin I learned at school wasn’t entirely wasted).
In Japan a few years ago, I found myself totally at sea: not only could I read none of the text (Roman script is scarce to non-existent outside the largest of cities), but I had no cultural anchors either. I found it strangely liberating.
I’ve never traveled in a country where I don’t at least recognize the alphabet—Greece was the closest, but since I was a Classics major at Cornell, I can at least sound out words, even if my ancient Greek from 30+ years ago wasn’t all that helpful for understanding.
But when I’m in places where I don’t understand the language, I still stare at the words, trying to figure them out. I simply can’t not look at text.
Someday we’ll get to Japan or another place where the script is completely foreign, and I’ll see if it’s troubling or liberating. :-)
Same for me. I’ve been a book reader since I first learned to read.
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I listen to books more rather than read nowadays. But I don’t use Twitter or Facebook etc. I really don’t need to know what anybody I know had for lunch, or where they are standing at that moment. I like thinking instead of always reacting to other people’s thoughts.
But that’s just me.
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Absolutely yes. When I was on a business trip to Beijing, this was very frustrating.
When I took a Baltic Sea cruise that stopped in St. Petersburg, the cruise line offered an “intro to Russian” session. Couldn’t read the language, but we got a quick rundown of the alphabet, so I could pronounce the words on signs, even if I couldn’t understand them - and that definitely felt better.
And this led to some interesting questions. I noticed, for instance that there were a huge number of small shops with signs saying “ОПТИКА”. Being able to pronounce it (“optika”), I assumed that these were opticians and immediately asked our guide “why are there so many opticians all over town?”. And got the answer that it is a colloquial term for a quickie-mart, much like the phrase “drug store” in the US.
Being able to pronounce words on signs lead to learning a bit of local culture that you probably can’t find in a book anywhere.
And on a parallel question: How do you feel about seeing web pages with missing characters (often rendered as squares)? I always want to see the intended characters, even if I can’t read a word of the text. So I made a point of installing at least one CJK font long before it was a standard part of system software. I felt much better seeing a screen of Chinese instead of a screen of squares, even though both convey equal meaning to me.
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Japan is a very easy country in which to travel. Many signs - at least in the bigger cities - will have multiple language signs and English is prominent. There is also a significant part of the population who speak at least some English.
Definitely go, it is a truly wonderful place with beautiful people.
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This has been an interesting discussion, and I find, at least for myself, that it doesn’t matter what we use to fill those idle moments, for we all seem to find ways to do so. Years ago, when I was teaching and using my old Apple IIe, students and parents would ask what kind of computer to buy, and my answer was always, “A computer is a tool. Decide first what you want to do with it, then find out which one does that or those things best and go with it.” We still do the same. Since my idle moments thing is reading, it doesn’t matter whether it is a book on paper or a digital one; it’s just whichever one is handy and available. It may seem odd to think of a paperback book as a tool, but it is just another way to get at the text I want to read.
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One option used to be to read a book, although that is difficult in any high distraction environment. Which is pretty much anywhere in public, therefore I gave up on that. Magazines were sometimes a viable option, but were always astronomically expensive even compared to the high price of books. Otherwise before little portable computers I’d typically play a handheld game like the Game & Watch models or alternatives from other manufacturers. Or I’d just listen to music on tapes.
I can sit meditatively, either thinking or not, and have plenty of practice at doing so, but I really don’t need more time for thinking. It is something I’ll do when in a quick line, e.g. at the supermarket, post office, even the doctor, but for a longer wait I’ll take out my phone. My usual preference is to play puzzle games. I still enjoy quick twitch games, but when playing that sort of thing I want real buttons. The main thing I’m looking for is something that will make what seems like an interminable wait seem shorter.
Audiobooks have never been something I found a use for. If I’m listening while doing something else I invariably end up missing chunks of the text, and if I am actively focussed on the audiobook I might just as well be reading.
Hi David
Good to know I’m not alone. You’ve made me feel a bit more normal!
It’s been a long time since being confronted by a web page with rectangles for missing characters, so I don’t recall my reaction to it. Because the rectangles signal missing characters, rather than containing any information that I can’t understand, I don’t think I’d react with my usual frustration. But who knows?
Kevan
I’m starting to think the reply’s here may be more indicative of the type of people that read TidBITS.
It seems a lot of us enjoy filling our time with reading everything from a long running online Mac based weekly 
to newspapers to books in our spare moments.
You can count me among those who likes to pass the time when waiting reading. In the days before ready internet access I would almost always have a physical book tucked away somewhere to pull out and as needed 
. Now I typically catch up on online articles but am not above reading a novel in Apple Books especially when internet access is sketchy.
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I think this about most of the things I read on here. We’re quite the discerning bunch 
Yesterday I took a train to the city for something to do. For 30 minutes I just watched other people on their phones whilst leaving mine in my pocket. It felt good to just take in the scenery without feeling compelled to ‘entertain’ myself.
As I walked around the Opera House I was taken by how many people were using phones, selfie sticks and tripods to record themselves giving (quite lengthy) commentary on their visit - rather than simply enjoying the magnificence of their surrounds. It’s a tik tok world I guess.
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That is my main concern. That people have increased the need to record or broadcast the world they are in, instead of experiencing it. And then conflate the two to feel that if they saw a video of something, it represents the real thing. Conversely, if something is not documented, it is not real.
Videotaping a concert and experiencing it through the little screen on your phone is not the same as being at a concert.
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You don’t think that they are enjoying themselves? Saying ‘look at me, I am here, and I have these feelings’?
It’s not something that I would do, but it seems like a harmless way to have fun to me