Reading for fun drops dramatically among teens, report says

[MineralMan]

19. I don't think so. We all started with books, because

there were no devices on which we could read books and other materials. It wasn't a choice on our parts. That was the medium that was available. Books, magazines, newspapers, etc. As for commercial interests controlling the Internet, commercial interests controlled those other media at the time we were reading them.

Today, anyone can publish for e-readers. No publisher is needed. What that means is that unpopular works are now available at little or no cost to owners of e-readers, where they were not in the days of paper-only publication. I'm the author of three books that saw publication in the traditional press. I'm also working on a couple of others that will be published as e-books. My current projects would never see publication on paper, now, and wouldn't have in the past, either.

The freedom available to writers today is unheard of. Anyone can create a website, blog, or other Internet outlet, free of any cost. Anyone can write a book and publish it at no cost, as well. The restrictions are essentially gone. An e-book can be sold on Amazon or some other e-publisher. They don't charge anything to publish it there, and the writer will be paid if copies are sold. It can also be distributed via email, on a website, or in any other way desired by the author.

The freedom to read today is far greater, using our devices, than ever before. Further, you can read unpopular viewpoints easily, freely, and at will.

I have to disagree with your characterization, I'm afraid. We read books, because we had nothing else. Now, we do.