I grew up with print books, my bookcase was a great pride of mine, being able to see all my books in front me and browsing through them. I loved going into libraries and bookshops as you never knew what you might find. When the Kindle was introduced, I jumped at the chance to get one. Being able to have any book on demand was a new and exciting experience. However, even though ebooks are a great convenience, I have always preferred print, even when studying, I prefer to have the book in my hands and turn the pages rather than reading it on a screen and scrolling up and down.
Most young adults, ages 16 to 24, still prefer to read a print book rather than an ebook. While the reasons for this are subjective, there any many who say they just prefer to hold the book (Brady, 2013). It could also have to do with the fact that our generation was brought up with print books and while everything else around us is changing, print books are still the same.
Young children today are being brought up with the choice between digital and print, while most of these children own some sort of device, whether it’s a phone, iPad or ereader, and have access to ebooks, the main percentage of children’s books sold are in print in bookstores. This is due to many books being bought on impulse (Owen, 2012). If you think about it, it’s a rare occurrence that you will go into a store or go online looking for a particular book.
The format with which young children read all depends on how their parents bring them up. It seems that most parents these days would prefer to have their children reading print books (Zickuhr, 2013). This could be due to the fact that they were brought up with print and want their children to have the same reading experiences they did. However a QuickStudy from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center showed that children in the age range 3 to 6 prefer reading ebooks. The study also showed however that the children preferred using more advanced ereaders that distracted them from the actual book (Greenfield, 2012). From this we can say that print books may have more benefit for the younger reader as there are fewer distractions involved.
The way that young children interact with books is very important for the future of publishing, as these children will be the ones publishing and purchasing books for their own children. So while publishers need to meet the demands of their consumers, if they want print books to stay an important part of publishing, then they need to educate the future generations about the importance of print.
References:
Brady, M., 2013. Why do young readers prefer print to ebooks? [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/dec/04/ebooks-amazon [Accessed: 25 November 2014]
Owen, L., 2012. New Stats: Kids Fine E-Books ‘Fun And Cool’, But Teens Are Still Reluctant. [online] Available at: https://gigaom.com/2012/01/23/419-new-stats-kids-find-e-books-fun-and-cool-but-teens-are-still-reluctant/ [Accessed: 25 November 2014]
Zickuhr, K., 2013. In a digital age, parents value printed books for their kids. [online] Available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/05/28/in-a-digital-age-parents-value-printed-books-for-their-kids/ [Accessed: 25 November 2014]
Greenfield, J., 2012. For Reading and Learning, Kids Prefer E-Books to Print Books. [online] Available at: http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/for-reading-and-learning-kids-prefer-e-books-to-print-books/ [Accessed: 25 November 2014]
Most young adults, ages 16 to 24, still prefer to read a print book rather than an ebook. While the reasons for this are subjective, there any many who say they just prefer to hold the book (Brady, 2013). It could also have to do with the fact that our generation was brought up with print books and while everything else around us is changing, print books are still the same.
Young children today are being brought up with the choice between digital and print, while most of these children own some sort of device, whether it’s a phone, iPad or ereader, and have access to ebooks, the main percentage of children’s books sold are in print in bookstores. This is due to many books being bought on impulse (Owen, 2012). If you think about it, it’s a rare occurrence that you will go into a store or go online looking for a particular book.
The format with which young children read all depends on how their parents bring them up. It seems that most parents these days would prefer to have their children reading print books (Zickuhr, 2013). This could be due to the fact that they were brought up with print and want their children to have the same reading experiences they did. However a QuickStudy from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center showed that children in the age range 3 to 6 prefer reading ebooks. The study also showed however that the children preferred using more advanced ereaders that distracted them from the actual book (Greenfield, 2012). From this we can say that print books may have more benefit for the younger reader as there are fewer distractions involved.
The way that young children interact with books is very important for the future of publishing, as these children will be the ones publishing and purchasing books for their own children. So while publishers need to meet the demands of their consumers, if they want print books to stay an important part of publishing, then they need to educate the future generations about the importance of print.
References:
Brady, M., 2013. Why do young readers prefer print to ebooks? [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/dec/04/ebooks-amazon [Accessed: 25 November 2014]
Owen, L., 2012. New Stats: Kids Fine E-Books ‘Fun And Cool’, But Teens Are Still Reluctant. [online] Available at: https://gigaom.com/2012/01/23/419-new-stats-kids-find-e-books-fun-and-cool-but-teens-are-still-reluctant/ [Accessed: 25 November 2014]
Zickuhr, K., 2013. In a digital age, parents value printed books for their kids. [online] Available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/05/28/in-a-digital-age-parents-value-printed-books-for-their-kids/ [Accessed: 25 November 2014]
Greenfield, J., 2012. For Reading and Learning, Kids Prefer E-Books to Print Books. [online] Available at: http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/for-reading-and-learning-kids-prefer-e-books-to-print-books/ [Accessed: 25 November 2014]