Years ago, when tablets and e-readers started to make their way into every household, I had a conversation with a friend who thought that printed paper books would become extinct in a matter of years and everyone would be reading digital books. I said I couldn’t image a day when that would happen. People just loved books too much! Personally, I LOVE holding a book in my hand. I love the way the pages feel and smell and turn. I love glancing at the book and knowing exactly how much more I have to read.
Plus, I don’t want to stare at a screen. I look at screens all day. When I’m reading, I want to check out and dive into a good book, non-electronically. And it looks like other people agree with me. I read an article on TreeHugger that gave these stats:
73 percent of Americans read at least one paper book in the last year, down from 79 percent in 2011 when it was last studied. That figure is considered “largely unchanged.” E-book readership increased by 11-percentage points between 2011 and 2014 (from 17% to 28%) but has seen no change in the last two years.
I think that number will rise and more people will move to ebooks, whether for convenience, price, space saver, and generational or personal preference. But I still hold firm to the belief that paper books will never fully go away.
What are your thoughts? Do you prefer paper or ebooks? And do you think there will come a day when books are solely digitally released?
Off to dive into an actual book,
~Mavis
Jennifer says
I got a Kindle back in 2010 and I still use it. I never pay for books, so unless it’s a freebie or I borrow it from my local library, I stick with the real thing. I read over 200 books a year and my library has a great selection, but very few of each title, so I may wait months for a specific book.
I don’t think books will ever go less than 50%.
Debbie noal says
I love cookbooks and other how to type books to be in printed paper form, all others I prefer reading on my kindle. I like the kindle because I can easily change my font and it is easier to hold when reading. A regular kindle is very easy on the eyes. I can read longer it than I can with a regular book. I also have a kindle fire which I like for convenience. I can download books from the library and read all on one device. I like to read a lot when I am on vacation. With my kindle I can take many more books with me.
Jeanette Titov says
I agree, Debbie. Some books just work better in the printed form – for me genealogy books do, and also cookbooks. I love my Kindle Fire and read most everything else these days on it for the reasons you mentioned. I have arthritis and large, heavy books are hard for me to manage. I also have the Kindle reading app which syncs with my e-reader so I switch back and forth between them depending on whether I am at my computer or lying down. I am a voracious reader and am always reading something, usually have several books in progress at the same time. Of course my house is full of printed books also! lol
Lisa says
I read both and listen to audios as well. Depends on the book, on library availability and if I want the book to keep.
Stephanie says
Hi Mavis,
I live in a small town in Nebraska. We have a public library and the closest book store is an hour drive away. I have a tablet with the Kindle and Nook apps. I love to be able to check out E-books on my tablet from our local library. I also love to check out and buy the print books as well. The E-books are nice for ones you may just want to read once and especially for space saving or if you you can’t find them in print form. You also can find some good deals on them too. My final answer…it is a tie. I still think there will be printed books for years to come.
P.S. I also love the second hand book websites that you can buy almost brand new books for pennies practically. I found these through Barnes and Noble’s website when searching for books. Great way to get out of print, and hard to find books.
Suzanne says
I definitely prefer paper books. I love the smell (I often won’t even start a book that I don’t like the smell of), I love being able to flip back to a page to find something (which I find far easier to do in a real book). But, I often want to read places where it is just not convenient for me to take a real book. I have a kindle that’s just an ereader and it’s screen looks just like a book page so I don’t feel like I get eye strain from that at all. I wouldn’t want to read ebooks from a kindle fire or an iPad.
Laura Z. says
I much prefer paper books, but I love the convenience of being able to check out a book from the library in the middle of the night from the comfort of my couch! I have a ridiculous book and cookbook collection already, so I find myself waiting till the $40 dollar cookbook that I want goes on sale for $2-3 on Kindle and I buy it then in e-form. I have saved myself much money and space this way. The older I get, the less stuff I want cluttering up my house, and I own more books than any other possession.
Ellen in Clackamas says
I like both but agree nothing smells or fells like a paper book in the hand. And even though I do have many books loaded on my Kindle when I am out camping, sitting by the campfire it is comforting to know when the “low battery” light comes on I can reach for a paper book to keep myself occupied.
SuzieW says
It took me a long time, but now I’m Kindle all the way.
Tracy says
I travel quite a bit, and no longer like to display hardcover books in my home, so I’ve become an e-reader, mostly. The real issue is how many fewer books are being published in hard cover –or even paperback– than were published even ten years ago. Publishing houses require books to turn a very quick profit now, and so only ‘blockbuster’ books are published by the largest houses. Smaller publishing houses, specializing in less main stream topics are still out there, but there are fewer and fewer of them each year, as they get bought up and consolidated into the larger houses.
Magazine publishing has been going through the same shrinkage for years now.
Lynn says
Both have pros and cons. I prefer paper. That said, I have been reading more books electronically than paper. I have found favorite authors on Kindle that I cannot find in print. With Kindle, I can click on a word I don’t know and the definition pops up. Also, I don’t have to wait to go to the library or wait for the book to arrive in the mail with Kindle. I also feel that all textbooks should go digital, especially science books where the material is outdated by the time it hits the shelves. When my eyes get tired at the end of the day, though, it is nice to give them a rest with an old-fashioned paper book.
Teckla says
Paper books might disappear some day, but I think that will be years away, maybe centuries. I love paper books, and have a library (read hundreds) but the biggest problem is space, as others have mentioned. The older we get the more space and weight become a problem. Books are friends and I like to hold on to my friends and refer to them again and again so I’ve kept many of my books, but I can see that I might go to some ebooks at some point. The other problem I’ve found is that I like older books/authors and they are hard enough to come by in paper form. I seriously doubt that a lot of them will ever become ebooks. I rarely buy a new book. I frequently check thrift stores, gargage sales when I can and buy a lot from Thriftbooks. Others I get from the library. I’m always on the lookout for inexpensive sources for ones I want to own. That is one point in favor of ebooks; many of them are free or inexpensive if you are paying attention. Interesting subject!
Katherine says
I love my old Kindle keyboard that doesn’t have the backlighting. It’s like reading a real book. That being said, I listen to a lot of audiobooks from the library when I’m working around the house, in the garden and in the car. I’d have to say I’m 50% Kindle and 50% audiobook.
Marcia says
I have a kindle and used to read a ton on it. I still sometimes do. But it’s paper for me. I like to be able to flip around, and go back – “wait, what happened back in chapter 2?” Not easy on a Kindle.
Plus there are two “free neighborhood libraries” on my street.
Reading Eat Pray Love from one of them right now!
jan says
I LOVE books!! All books! Paper, Electronic, Audio! I think we are really fortunate to have such great choices. I will always chose paper but if I can’t find a book that way then I love having options.
A few years ago when the bookstores began to close I was worried but now with Amazon we have greater choices than ever. Some writers that I really like might never have been published again as the shelf space dwindled. But along came Kindle. Now they can keep writing forever and find their audience. We also have such great choices now to find the older books of writers that we really like. That was very hard to do before, Back in the day thrift stores were the only way and that was too time consuming.
Laura T. says
I’m old school. I love the real thing. It’s paper for me! I have always loved wandering around bookstores! I miss all the bookstores (large & mom and pop type) as well as the music stores that were fun to browse around looking at the albums! (Did I just date myself with that one?) Coffee table type picture books just wouldn’t be the same either. I’ve always wanted a house with a library that had wall to wall & floor to ceiling books with that sliding ladder to reach them all. :0)
Crystal says
Paper for me. After awhile the light on the screen hurts my eyes.
Kirsty says
I’m a book lady volunteer in an Opportunity shop – what Americans call a thrift shop – we sell lots of paper books.
Personally, I opened a 114 year old book recently, so glad the technology hadn’t changed.
Pam says
I love books any way I can get them. The nice thing about digital is being able to read older, out of print books. I’ve been reading 1800’s (and older) books for the last few years and really enjoy them, but I also love to hold a “real” book too.
Vy says
Paper, definitely. I only use a reader when I absolutely must (free book, one I can’t find in paper). Though I did find one good use for it, we were camping and it was pitch dark, but I could still read. Still, I love the tactile experience of reading a physical book.
Deborah says
I read “real” paper books and books on my iPad. Love both. I have so many paper books, but I love books of all kinds. I love reading. I learn something from all the books I read. And, I get to trave all over the world in the stories. I have been known to read westerns and even science fiction, and almost everything in between. My all time favorite! Amish books.
Laura T. says
Deborah, I too love Amish books! My friend has almost every one ever written! I just go over to her house & ‘check one out’ like I’m at a library! :0) They always make me want to get up early & start cooking & baking! I live south of Chicago so I’ve gone to Shipshewana many times in Indiana but my friend & I would love to go to Lancaster Pa. Many of those books are based there!
Cheri says
I think ebooks are here to stay, but so are paper books. I don’t like e-readers, much preferring a paper book. On the other hand, both options have practicalities. If I had to travel a lot, I would probably buy an e-reader because I like to travel light, and I like to read. But I would never want to curl up with a good e-reader. It’s books for me as a norm. That said, I agree with an above commenter that paper could disappear someday after a long time.
Patti says
I do read on my kindle, but I only read free books or purchase ones that I don’t think I’ll look at again once I finish reading them. I adore real books and magazines. Amazon knows me well, as does Barnes and Noble. I’m grateful I am able to enjoy both.
GardenNut says
Paper doesn’t change. What is printed stays printed. Editing a file though? That is but the work of a few minutes.
DebbieB says
For years I was an avid library user. I used to really enjoy spending a few hours in a library relaxing in comfy chairs and carrying a stack of books home. The problem was, after getting them home and reading them I could never seem to get them back on time and was constantly paying fines. I even lost a few. Now that I have my Kindle I just love it and take it everywhere with me. I won’t even buy a new purse if my Kindle won’t fit in it. My mom complains that most books in her library are fairly current, she can’t find her favorite authors’ older books. I can find pretty much everything I’m looking for on Amazon. I am reading much more now because I don’t have to make that trip to the library.
Anne Johnston says
My husband bought me a Kindle years ago but I’ll be honest but to his great dismay, I hardly ever use it. I much prefer the look and feel of holding a real book. Love the Fort Vancouver Regional Library system in Clark County – they are great! I can put “holds” on books I want to read and when one comes available, I get an email to let me know to come pick it up.
Dana says
I love paper books, but my rheumatoid arthritis has affected my hands to the point that anything but my phone, using my kindle app is to heavy and painful.
Ranee says
Paper books all the way. Took an e reader on vacation, read a paper book. A good book, a comfortable chair, a rainy day, or snow, lap throw and a cup of tea. See ya…
Practical Parsimony says
I only read paper and have no desire to read an electronic “book.”
mandy says
I don’t own a kindle. I would be open to it in certain circumstances, for sure, like when I was in the hospital with my grandma, one of these would sure have come in handy at moments. I do love reading real books though, there’s just a feel to it and it’s relaxing. . And the same thing goes for crosswords and suduko, I’d much rather have a paper puzzle. I don’t even care to try a digital one.
Cheryl says
I do not own an e-reader, a kindle, nook, tablet, cell phone or much of anything except this computer. I much prefer paper for the same reasons others do. I have a huge canning/preserving collection and I too, am a genealogist so am nose deep in books a lot. I also tend to read in bed a lot and I have a double astigmatism, bifocals and am near sided, so positioning the kindle to read would probably be more trouble than it is worth as I already have to read with one eye closed.
Pam says
I buy my cookbooks in paper form. Everything else is electronic. Many sites now allow you to “lend” or “share” your e-books so 3 or 4 of us can read the book at the same time for one price. And I like to think of the trees I’m saving by not buying the paper format.
Amy says
I have never used an e-book (no tablet/iPad and limited internet).
There is a bookmobile that drives to our community once a week and through their website you can rent books from many libraries, not just the main one. It’s pretty awesome and I just have to be patient as I wait for my turn to read the book I want.
When I do purchase a book it is non-fiction and with advice/info I know I will need again and again.
I really enjoy reading paper books!! I know if we take time and teach our children this pleasure the physical words will always be appreciated 🙂
Lisa Millar says
Real books!
I can’t really compare because I don’t have a digital device like a kindle to use anyway… but I have always been in love with books – the smell and feel.
We have a great collection of books – I have some old ones with their original dust jackets, plus a few signed by authors copies that we treasure.
Our ‘library’ smells like a second hand bookshop! 🙂
I totally can see the advantage of travelling with a kindle – when I was travelling I missed my books. I really read too fast to warrant hauling books around with me, so it would have been ideal then!
Shannon says
Both and I honestly don’t see that ever changing. Paper for when I’m going somewhere that the e-reader could be damaged (beach, etc) or stolen, or for when I’m at home and can easily grab another book off my shelf if I finish my current read. E-reader for when I travel. SO much more convenient than having to lug a half dozen books in my suitcase. I’ve spent too many vacations with nothing to read cause I finished my current read on day two. Course then that makes me look up a local bookstore but…… LOL. The e-reader is also nice for travel cause I’m rather ADD when it comes to reading. I’ll get bored with my current read and want to go to something else for a while. The e-reader makes that easy. I just download as much of my cloud library as can fit onto it before a trip and I have like a thousand books to choose from. Even *I* can’t get bored with THAT, no matter how much my flight is delayed. LOL
Leslie says
I did a couple e-books for the courses I am taking. And have learned that I hate e-books. Something about reading on the screen bothers me. I feel like I couldn’t absorb any information, either.
Amy says
Paper, always.
Jenny Young says
I’ve only been reading digital books for a few weeks. I purchased my first cell phone & have been reading almost a book a day! I love it. I love that it’s so easy to always have a book with me & I constantly pull it out to read.
Still, I do love paper books as well. I subscribe to a few magazines that I probably won’t ever give up – Southern Living!- & when I read a book to really learn or one I want to keep, I prefer paper. I like to under line & take notes in books that I’m studying or learning from….books that I refer back to often.