Reading is FUNdamental!

I was reading an article today, and it quoted Steve Jobs as saying something about not caring about Kindle (Amazon's new electronic book/reader) because "40 percent of the people in the US read one book or less each year." Or words to that effect. Then the article went on to quote some other study that said 27 percent of the people in the US do not read even one book per year, but that a like amount of people read 15 or more books per year (hmmmm... the law of conservation of reading?). But really, whatever the stat, it sounds like there is some really large number of people who don't read even one book each year. What a ghastly statistic! I think of the books I have read, am reading and (hopefully) will read, and I'm appalled that so many people won't get the enjoyment that I have from books. I don't think it has anything to do with class or snobbery, this is basic - reading, good, not reading, bad. I can't even imagine it, really. For as long as I can remember, I have read. I remember one of my early reading coups was reading all of the Tom Swift Jr. books available to date when I was little, maybe eight or so (and it was a lot - in the twenties, I think). And after that, so, so much - starting with science fiction, but branching out into everything. My life has been immeasurably enriched by reading, and to think that there are people who just... don't; it's sad. I know there are literacy problems for some, and language problems for others, but if we say 30 percent we're starting to talk about 100 million people for pete's sake! I've met people who have said in passing, "oh, I don't read books," but I've never really taken it to heart. How can one not read? My wife and I have so many books that we can't deal with them all. In fact, because I moved into her house, not vice versa, most of mine are still in boxes in the basement, sniff...
I don't even want to think about what this means in terms of an informed electorate *shudder* I think I'm going to have some more wine, read Guns, Germs and Steel and contemplate a world without the written word. Yikes.