it became clear to me that the utility of the e-reading app was not so much about reading as it was about signaling that you were the type of person who would read, and who would use an app with a cutting-edge reading experience and innovative, intuitive design. The ideal user of the app, I deduced, was a person who thought of themselves as a reader, but wasn’t, not really: licensing cost money, and anyone reading more than a few books a month could generate a licensing expense exceeding the subscription fee.
