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Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

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Re: Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

#81

Post by problems »

cglouch wrote: post #77
problems wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So... entirely fluff and nothing practical then?

At least for me, the "fluff" ends up being quite practical. I often remember stuff by thinking back to where I saw it in the book. With a physical book, my brain associates content with where I read it on the page (left vs right), how far into the book it was (judging by the depth of the pages), and what the book looked/felt like and weighed. All of this lets me recall information more easily, because the physical se…

Sounds completely foreign to me. I'd love to see a study though on how common this is though.

I'm guessing a lot more people could remember the name of a concept that they could then easily search for in an ebook instead - seems a much more direct and practical benefit to me.

Re: Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

#82

Post by watwut »

chromalife wrote: post #6

I prefer having a physical book. Flicking through pages to reread sections, highlighting and margin notes are not yet seamless with the reading app I'm using. But Getting a tablet has increased the amount I'm reading by at least a factor of 4. It is now so easy to buy books after reading a recommendation online. The free sample feature makes it so I don't buy a book I won't like, And the built in dictionary has me lo…

For me it is opposite - strongly prefer reading on phone and strongly prefer buying books in physical store. I dislike that I am supposed to buy e-books based on much smaller information.

Re: Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

#83

Post by problems »

99183912 wrote: post #78
problems wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So... entirely fluff and nothing practical then?

Not outsourcing one's semantic network to Google and Amazon seems highly practical, unless one is a drone.

I'm not suggesting that at all. Ebooks do not necessarily lock you to any particular provider, especially if you're willing to strip DRM to get where you need to be. You can grep your whole collection with full control if you'd like.

Re: Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

#84

Post by erickhill »

We bought Kindles for both of my kids, as they expressed a sincere interest. Today, those devices collect a lot of dust. I can't put my finger on why. With my son (7), I do know he seems to really enjoy books that include pictures scattered throughout the text (e.g. Geronimo Stilton). For my daughter (9), who reads very thick paper books typically in series, I really don't know - so has a huge reading appetite and reads every chance she can get. It may be she has much easier access to paper versions. She almost never has to ask us to buy her a book as she can just go pick one up.

I should ask her. I do sometimes wonder if there is a bit of subliminal affection for the covers of books, too, to reinforce one's personal identity, which you never get with a black mirror.

Re: Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

#85

Post by emodendroket »

overcast wrote: post #43
emodendroket wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the opposite experience. I read a lot on the train and I read a lot of books on the Kindle I probably would have avoided before because they seemed so large that I didn't want to carry them or they just seemed imposing. I also find reading for extended periods on the Kindle far more comfortable. The only thing I don't prefer it for is books where I know I'll be flipping back and forth a lot (textbooks, referen…

Again, for the travel convenience, the Kindle is great. I fortunately do not spend long periods of time on a train. My reading is at home, in silence.

Even without the travel aspect, I just find I'm way less likely to avoid a book because "it's too long to start now." Also having the book in my hot little hands almost instantly is another thing that encourages more reading (although also forking more money over to Amazon).

Re: Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

#86

Post by szatkus »

Johnny555 wrote: post #3

Until I got a Kindle Voyage, I found the Kindle reading experience to be subpar to books (but still more convenient in most cases). But with the higher resolution of the Voyage (300ppi), better backlight, and most importantly, buttons to move forward/back instead of swiping, I now prefer the Voyage over paper books. Much easier to read one-handed on the train, and having a good backlight makes for convenient reading…

Really? I see difference above my first e-book reader (800x600, 167ppi), but it really wasn't groundbreaking.

Re: Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

#87

Post by stinkytaco »

petra wrote: post #62
stinkytaco wrote: post #60

I've just finished doing quite a bit of reading and research on this since e-books are big responsibility of mine as a librarian. The data seems to point to most people not having a really strong preference. There are a small percentage of people (less that 10%) that prefer ebooks and a larger percentage (30%+) that prefer physical books, but most people's preference is either complicated (they prefer one for a speci…

Does your literature review only takes into account e-ink kindles ? because a lot of the research literature disregards the uniqueness of the kindle.

It's more general to "ebooks". FWIW, Kindle's make up a plurality of our e-book circulation, but we don't know the ratio of black and white to tablets. Anecdotally, we see a fair amount of Fire Tablets, but that could just be because people using Fire Tablets need more help. The survey I'm referencing (along with some other supporting data) is Pew, so take that for what it's worth.

Re: Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

#88

Post by stinkytaco »

robarr wrote: post #79
chromalife wrote: post #6

I prefer having a physical book. Flicking through pages to reread sections, highlighting and margin notes are not yet seamless with the reading app I'm using. But Getting a tablet has increased the amount I'm reading by at least a factor of 4. It is now so easy to buy books after reading a recommendation online. The free sample feature makes it so I don't buy a book I won't like, And the built in dictionary has me lo…

Yes, we read more now that tablets are here, but at least in my experience, we kind of also ´cheat´, skipping pages (are there even pages anymore?) and glancing ahead... in my more physical book reading times i felt skipping pages was a betrayal of the author´s intentions, now i am just in a hurry and really want only to know how it ends and if all the knots are tied. And we can do this beacause electronic books have…

I skipped ahead way more often in print because skipping ahead in an ebook is a hassle.

Re: Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

#89

Post by pharrington »

gnicholas wrote: post #76

This article significantly misrepresents the study. It says that children prefer to read on paper than on devices, which indicates that children were asked about their preferences, or asked about habits that are likely to reveal their preferences. This is not the case. Subjects were never asked which they liked better, and the underlying research report clearly indicates that the differences in their behavior between…

The research's starting point is literally treating all iPads and all Kindles as the same device. It is not appropriately nuanced.

Re: Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens

#90

Post by anotherevan »

Some anecdotes:

I (late 40s) love my eink ereader (a Kobo Aura HD) when reading for pleasure. I also use it for reading a lot of web-page articles away from the computer (via it’s pocket integration). I’ve read 205 books in the last three years[1] and I would say less than five were physical books.

On the other hand, almost all those books were fiction, read for pleasure. I would never read that amount on a tablet screen or any similar screen that emits its own light.

I also find for technical topics, especially if they involve lots of diagrams or tables, I prefer physical over electronic because the ability to navigate around and annotate is so much faster and superior.

§

My kids, who are now in the teens and both avid readers, prefer physical books over electronic almost exclusively. They are willing to wait weeks to get hold of a physical version of an eagerly anticipated tome rather than get the electronic version immediately.

The only time my daughter uses an eink reader is when something she really wants to read is only being published electronically, never physically. I have tried to get her interested in a few books or series I think she would like, but with the rare exception was unsuccessful unless I could provide a physical version of the book.

§

At the opposite end, my dad (late 70s) who while not quite a luddite is far from a digital native, has expressed interest in getting an ebook reader primarily because he can then change the text to a comfortable size for his failing eyesight.

[1] http://www.michevan.id.au/tag/books/

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