Tied to media devices, but rarely entertained

Re “Underwhelmed by It All,” one in a five-part series, Aug. 7

I was not surprised to hear that teenagers and young adults are not really entertained by all the media devices to which they have become attached. The reason is that entertainment is like dessert -- a little goes a long way and doesn’t actually nourish. People derive genuine satisfaction by actually doing things such as making their own music, dancing, creating art, volunteering, growing flowers, knitting sweaters, repairing old bicycles, learning a new language. The fact that youngsters waste so much time trying to find virtual satisfaction shows that we need to work harder to make real satisfaction more accessible to them.

RUTH ANNE HAMMOND

Los Angeles

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Movie studios and theater owners only have to read your writer’s experience about a teen sitting next to him BlackBerrying through a film to know why my movie-going has dropped from about 75 a year in the 1990s to only six in 2005. Both of the movies I saw in theaters this summer (the second “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Scoop”) were bathed in the blue glow from the cellphones of people all around me text-messaging and checking their messages. Ironic, isn’t it, that in your poll almost a full third of these people who have no qualms about annoying those around them with their own talking, phoning and texting cite this same behavior as the main reason they dislike seeing films in movie theaters?

TOM OGDEN

Hollywood

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Kids who have unlimited entertainment at their disposal but are bored with all of it seems like a scene out of the film “Fahrenheit 451.” In that movie Julie Christie’s character sits in front of a huge wall TV all day and is bored out of her wits, and Oskar Werner’s character secretly starts to read some of the books that he is supposed to burn, because he is desperate for some deeper things to experience. I guess all those kids don’t read too much, even though it’s perfectly legal to do so.

MATTHEW OKADA

Pasadena

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Re “Is Copying a Crime? Well ...,” Aug. 9

I must point out that my demographic -- I am a 21-year-old college female -- is stuck in the Catch-22 of popular culture and legal obligation. Certainly, I would love to financially support musicians I appreciate, yet their music is not always readily available. And I don’t just mean the rough demos of your neighbor’s month-old garage band.

How can I legitimately fund musicians’ efforts if I cannot even access them? Although the entertainment industry has reasonable cause to limit piracy, it effectively limits creativity as well. Unsigned bands have little hope for listeners to discover their music, as preferences are limited to labels’ carefully orchestrated production machinery. Sure, “American Idol” can professionally catapult unknown talent to international superstardom, but I seem to remember that “music” embodies more than just prepackaged pop.

JESSICA HOWARD

Beverly Hills