Reading Microsoft’s Terms of Service would take more time than Sun Tzu’s Art of War. What about Facebook, Netflix, or TikTok?
Terms of service is a wall of boring text in tiny, barely readable font you see when you sign up for a new service or app.
It’s the text you should read if you care about your privacy and customer rights but usually look for “Accept” button right away. You are going to use that service anyway, so why waste precious time, right? Especially that there are so many great books you don’t have time to read, either.
Visual Capitalist has recently published a post and infographic that take a look at terms of service of popular services and apps, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Zoom, TikTok, or Microsoft.
Nicholas LePan from Visual Capitalist has compared word count of current terms of use of these services with word count of famous books and other texts, such as Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the U.S. Constitution, or The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
If we applied an average reading speed to these texts (for the purpose of the infographic LePen assumed it’s 240 words per minute), we would see how much time we would need to reach the “Accept” button.
It turns out reading Twitter’s, Tinder’s, or Uber’s ToS takes more time than reading the U.S. Constitution. Reading each service’s terms takes between 20 and 25 minutes.
The absolute winner is Microsoft. The company’s terms and conditions are longer than The Art of War. Reading them would take you over an hour, compared to 50 minutes of Sun Tzu’s classic. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is only a few minutes longer, with a reading time of 1:11:18.
The shortest legal agreements are provided by Instagram (9:42), Netflix (11:00), and YouTube (13:42).
Click or tap the infographic to see it in full resolution.
Based on recommendations from top tech sites and customer reviews.
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Reading time of terms of service compared to books (infographic)https://ebookfriendly.com/reading-time-of-terms-of-service-compared-to-books-infographic/via @ebookfriendly
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Nineteen years before she decided to die, Nora Seed sat in the warmth of the small library at Hazeldene School in the town of Bedford. She sat at a low table staring at a chess board.
‘Nora dear, it’s natural to worry about your future,’ said the librarian, Mrs Elm, her eyes twinkling.
Mrs Elm made her first move. A knight hopping over the neat row of white pawns. ‘Of course, you’re going to be worried about the exams. But you could be anything you want to be, Nora. Think of all that possibility. It’s exciting.’
‘Yes. I suppose it is.’
‘A whole life in front of you.’
‘A whole life.’
‘You could do anything, live anywhere. Somewhere a bit less cold and wet.’
Nora pushed a pawn forward two spaces.
It was hard not to compare Mrs Elm to her mother, who treated Nora like a mistake in need of correction. For instance, when she was a baby her mother had been so worried Nora’s left ear stuck out more than her right that she’d used sticky tape to address the situation, then disguised it beneath a woollen bonnet.
Devices are not dangerous for literature.People can be dangerous for literature.People, for example, who do not read.
– László Krasznahorkai –
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