An extreme example these days are the people who buy games for $5 on Steam sales and never even download them because they can't afford the 200 hours or so to enjoy the game.
The 200 hours isn't quite the reward. A jog isn't rewarding. Reading a paragraph isn't rewarding. You need to read perhaps a chapter at least to get some reward.
I bought Dune. I read until the legendary "fear is the mind killer" scene. And then I put it down and haven't picked it up yet. I got some reward from it, probably not the full amount, but I just couldn't afford the hours to finish the book.
Are you otherwise familiar with the story? There's a good reason it is recommended to read the book before you watch the movie/series. A book allows you to completely apply your own imagination. My path was: Dune II (game), Dune (David Lynch movie), Dune (game, did not finish), Dune 2000 (game), Dune (remake from 2001), Children of Dune and in 2016 I finally finished reading the book (I started in ~2012). Obviously I knew the story quite well as I played Dune II and watched the movies a lot (though I did not like Children of Dune much). The book felt like a choir, but it was good. Really good. Its just that the movies were good enough. Its why I don't bother reading Fire and Ice, Lord of the Rings, or The Witcher. I've seen the series/movies. We also need to put a book in the age or context it was written. Or, well, 'need to'? It'd be fair. I do the same with older content of movies and series.
I'm not. It does sound like the kind of thing I would like (I'm a fan of the Dark Sun setting). I normally prefer movies over books, again, because it's less time commitment. But Dune tops Amazon's list week after week, so there has to be a good reason for that.
It is a fantastic book, still reads well nowadays (I finished reading it in 2016). Just like a book like Snow Crash. However, the movies/series are great, too. The games are dated. Haven't seen the 2021 series as of yet.
The 200 hours isn't quite the reward. A jog isn't rewarding. Reading a paragraph isn't rewarding. You need to read perhaps a chapter at least to get some reward.
I bought Dune. I read until the legendary "fear is the mind killer" scene. And then I put it down and haven't picked it up yet. I got some reward from it, probably not the full amount, but I just couldn't afford the hours to finish the book.