Ever since the snowballing computer revolution brought quick-and-easy onscreen reading, prognosticators have predicted that writing on paper will fade to a remote fringe. However, while it may be true that instantaneous email has decimated postal letters, electronic progress is occurring much slower with books.
Ever since the snowballing computer revolution brought quick-and-easy onscreen reading, prognosticators have predicted that writing on paper will fade to a remote fringe. However, while it may be true that instantaneous email has decimated postal letters, electronic progress is occurring much slower with books.
A new Pew Research Center survey of America's regular adult readers found that 89 percent of them read at least one paper book in the past year -- but only 30 percent read an electronic book. Although e-reading is rising, it has a long way to go to reach parity.
Meanwhile, Bowker Market Research says only 16 percent of Americans ever purchased an e-book -- and a remarkable 59 percent say they have "no interest" in buying one.
A Wall Street Journal commentary blazoned: "Print is here to stay... Readers still want to turn those crisp, bound pages." It predicted that paper books never will disappear, but will exist side-by-side with digital ones.
The essay speculated that "real books -- the kind you can set on a shelf --" are best suited for serious literature and in-depth nonfiction, while e-books are better for cheap, quick, disposable, read-it-and-toss-it, paperback-style fiction. "The 'Fifty Shades of Grey' phenomenon probably wouldn't have happened if e-books didn't exist," it said.
Many publishers reported a holiday upsurge in e-book sales, and say year-to-year sales keep rising. But predictions of a total takeover evidently were overblown.
Print on paper has been the foundation of human knowledge ever since Gutenberg, and it apparently will continue far into the future.
Ever since the snowballing computer revolution brought quick-and-easy onscreen reading, prognosticators have predicted that writing on paper will fade to a remote fringe. However, while it may be true that instantaneous email has decimated postal letters, electronic progress is occurring much slower with books.
A new Pew Research Center survey of America's regular adult readers found that 89 percent of them read at least one paper book in the past year -- but only 30 percent read an electronic book. Although e-reading is rising, it has a long way to go to reach parity.
Meanwhile, Bowker Market Research says only 16 percent of Americans ever purchased an e-book -- and a remarkable 59 percent say they have "no interest" in buying one.
A Wall Street Journal commentary blazoned: "Print is here to stay... Readers still want to turn those crisp, bound pages." It predicted that paper books never will disappear, but will exist side-by-side with digital ones.
The essay speculated that "real books -- the kind you can set on a shelf --" are best suited for serious literature and in-depth nonfiction, while e-books are better for cheap, quick, disposable, read-it-and-toss-it, paperback-style fiction. "The 'Fifty Shades of Grey' phenomenon probably wouldn't have happened if e-books didn't exist," it said.
Many publishers reported a holiday upsurge in e-book sales, and say year-to-year sales keep rising. But predictions of a total takeover evidently were overblown.
Print on paper has been the foundation of human knowledge ever since Gutenberg, and it apparently will continue far into the future.
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