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Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions

pewresearch.org

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Re: Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions

#41

Post by dinkumthinkum »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #21
el_jay wrote: post #18

On top of all the extremely valid points about the ad-driven cognitive friction inherent to modern device usage: print books can’t get yoinked off my shelf because a rich person with political connections wants that.

> print books can’t get yoinked off my shelf because a rich person with political connections wants that. Yes except where rich people fund political book-banning groups to do that. ref: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/books/book-bans-libraries...

With respect, this is just propaganda. That is not about banning books, that is about keep certain kinds of books out of school libraries. School libraries already kept other classes of books. This reminds of when Gavin Newsome or Pink tried to claim conservatives states banned "To Kill a Mocking Bird," which was not only untrue but it was the case that in their foolishness, they did not realize California banned the book, if anything.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/gavin-news...

Re: Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions

#42

Post by kQq9oHeAz6wLLS »

bentley wrote: post #15
Telaneo wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading plain EPUBs on whatever device has been a fairly good experience in my opinion, given that that is more or less just going to be the physical book in digital form. Then again, the only way I think people actually find those are through free online downloads and not any actual store front. Given the choice between 'tainted digital experience' and 'plain analogue experience', I can't blame consumers for choosin…

> the only way I think people actually find those are through free online downloads and not any actual store front. The other day I commented about my DRM‐free ebook sources: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47684550 In my opinion, it’s important to support those publishers and stores that do choose to sell unencumbered media, so that they have some justification to keep doing it.

One more to add to your list: baen.com, home of publisher Baen books. Lots of sci-fi and fantasy, all DRM free if you buy direct from them.

Re: Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions

#43

Post by kQq9oHeAz6wLLS »

WolfeReader wrote: post #30
analogpixel wrote: post #2

Watching TV/Movies through any device is a bother, I have to sift through all the advertisements/brand placements for that device to find anything, and most of the time it's the same 20 movies repeated over and over in every section. Reading on a E-device is a bother, I have to sift through all the "sponsored" books and whatever other crap the ebook reader company decides to add, and be at the whims of whatever they…

"Reading on a E-device is a bother, I have to sift through all the "sponsored" books and whatever other crap the ebook reader company decides to add, and be at the whims of whatever they decide they want to do with "your" device that day." My fellow, you are on Hacker News. Think like a hacker, not a consumer. Plenty of savvy e-book customers here don't have the experience you just described. Look up how to put KORea…

Librera Reader is alsoa great open source eBook reader

https://github.com/foobnix/LibreraReader

Re: Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions

#45

Post by SilentM68 »

I used to browse bookstores all the time in the past, but there are fewer and fewer physical bookstores around. Malls have been closing down for the longest time. Even when books were available, the prices were extremely high. I'm excluding school textbooks prices which are and always remain ultrahigh. If prices were more reasonable, I would think that more people would opt for physical books.

Re: Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions

#46

Post by nirvdrum »

walterbell wrote: post #17
analogpixel wrote: post #2

Watching TV/Movies through any device is a bother, I have to sift through all the advertisements/brand placements for that device to find anything, and most of the time it's the same 20 movies repeated over and over in every section. Reading on a E-device is a bother, I have to sift through all the "sponsored" books and whatever other crap the ebook reader company decides to add, and be at the whims of whatever they…

CheapCharts + iTunes Store + Apple TV (non-subscription) = zero ads and offline viewing.

CheapCharts is really nice. I find discovery in the Apple TV store pretty bad otherwise. They earn their affiliate revenue.

I do wish we had DRM-free purchases like we have with MP3s. But this is a big step up over streaming services. The Movies Anywhere integration is handy as well.

Re: Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions

#47

Post by Cider9986 »

dinkumthinkum wrote: post #37
WolfeReader wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Physical books burn - just ask the Library of Alexandria. Ebooks have so many more ways to be preserved and replicated.

The be fair the parent said "almost." I see this more as a backup of the physical book. Other than search, the experience of physical books is superior, I think, for most people for most uses. You can come up with counterexamples like certain aspects of studying textbooks, etc., but I think this is true in general.

Can most people get physical books? Ebooks are made freely accessible by projects like Anna's Archive. An ebook can be more easily used as a printing source, can be more easily cited in research, and can be better preserved.

The one advantage of physical books is the reading experience itself, but even that is debatable. A Kindle lets you adjust brightness, change fonts—there are fonts that help dyslexic people, for example—and it's lighter than books. Did I mention dark mode?

Re: Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions

#48

Post by SilentM68 »

pseingatl wrote: post #44

The problem with printed books is issues suffered by the visually impaired. It's not an issue solely with font size; printed books have no dark mode. If you're a digital nomad, weight is an issue as well.

I used to work in that field and procured braille media for visually impaired people. In the US state that I live in, light-weight print-to-order braille books are free for qualified low vision students, especially in an education setting. Unfortunately, in most other states free braille media may not be true. On the bright side, thanks to the power of AI, blindness may be a thing of the past, even for people that have chronic blindness. That would be one area with AI can benefit people if used correctly.

Re: Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions

#50

Post by sacredSatan »

I like the convenience of ebooks but the physical feel of paperback is unmatched.

I can still remember where I was when I read a certain book or even a chapter in case of a physical book. With my kindle it's a blur to me.

I also like to see my bookmark gradually make its way down the book over time.

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