Will Print always exist?
Pew’s Research founded that 88% of Americans under 30 read a book in the past year. This statistic is significantly staggering, since the majority today cannot decide what is more favoured between paper books and eBooks. Although everyone is already aware of the importance of incorporating reading in their day to day life, how are people really finding time to manage reading… specifically the people under the age of 30.
From generation to generation, reading has been a vital source of leisure. Amongst the various genres, books themselves offers their own excitement for readers. Since recent technological advancements in reading, results by the PEW Research Center during 2016 concluded that millennials are more likely to read books than older adults.
“The image of millennials as keen readers always seem to cause surprise.” — Samantha Shannon
As mentioned earlier the 88% of under 30s, is in comparison to the 79% of those aged older. Nevertheless, Pew also stated that adults of 65 and over, were identified as the age group who are least likely to have read a book in the past year. Reasons behind the ‘Millennial Reading’ numbers are based on the parents influence.
“Digital isn’t taking over the kids’ book market in the same way as it is the adults, for obvious reasons. A lot of parents don’t want their children spending all their time on devices” — Charlotte Eyre.
Given the speed of change, consumer publishing may have to think of life without magazines, newspapers and books in years to come. The endless amount of online platforms is just one factor of the debatable popularity between Ebooks and printed books. Therefore, parents influence comes down to being more exposed to digital reading because they are in control. Ebooks will continue to be accessible for consumers, because digital will continue to grow.
However, printed book enthusiasts insist that there is no better feeling than the smell of new book and the rustle of the papers as the readers flips gently through the book with their fingers. The experience of holding a paper book in hand offers something that cannot be obtained by a ‘cold, electronic e-book version’ (Spreeder, 2012).
Apart from the physical satisfaction readers can agree to disagree on, it has been studied that printed books are still the better choice when regarding to reading comprehension. In addition, results by Joan Ganze Cooney Center stated reading hard copy is more beneficial to their literacy building. As this ‘method’ benefits concentration whereas, e-books encourage interactive add-ons which can detract from the experience because of all of the interruptions.
Mobile Reading.
The future of consumer publishing is becoming a daunting one, as smart devices have dominated our lives. Digital 2019 reported, that the average individual spends online 6 hours and 42 minutes each day (Kemp, 2019). As we slowly become more and more a part of the internet, smartphone screens will become larger and web browsing will continue to enhance its user-friendly fashion. Smartphones, Tablets and Desktops are with no doubt convenient and the success lays in apps. This gap in the market has given consumer publishers something to excel at — as writers and producers have the opportunity to create content in all forms such as; news, lifestyle, video, reviews etc. However, how is everyone truly willing to consume and invest time into a new area such as app development, when this content is always available in print every week/month.
Cooney Center, Joan Ganz. “Reading with Young Children: Something Old and Something New?” Joan Ganz Cooney Center, 18 Sept. 2012, joanganzcooneycenter.org/2012/09/18/reading-with-young-children-something-old-and-something-new/.
Ferguson, N. (2012) The future of consumer publishing. [Online] Available at: https://www.inpublishing.co.uk/articles/the-future-of-consumer-publishing-1185 [Accessed: 27/09/2019].
Flood, A. (2014) Young read more books than older generation, research finds [Online] Available at:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/12/young-read-more-books-than-older-generation-research [Accessed: 26/09/2019]
Hughes, M. (2019) Study shows we’re spending an insane amount of time online. [Online] Available at: https://thenextweb.com/tech/2019/01/31/study-shows-were-spending-an-insane-amount-of-time-online/ [Accessed: 27/09/2019]
Kemp, S. (2019) Digital Trends 2019: Every single stat you need to know about the internet. [Online] Available at: https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2019/01/30/digital-trends-2019-every-single-stat-you-need-to-know-about-the-internet/ [Accessed: 27/09/2019]
Preston, A. (2017) How real books have trumped ebooks [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/14/how-real-books-trumped-ebooks-publishing-revival [Accessed: 26/09/2019]
Spreeder. 2012 “Ebooks VS Printed Books: Which Is Preferred Now?” Spreeder, 2012, www.spreeder.com/ebooks-vs-printed-books-which-is-preferred-now/.
Tobing, P. (2018) Books and millennials: Do we still read for leisure? [Online] Available at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2018/05/17/books-and-millennials-do-we-still-read-for-leisure.html [Accessed: 26/09/2019]
Trucano, M. (2014) What we are leaning about reading on mobile phones and devices in developing countries [Online] Available at: http://blogs.worldbank.org/edutech/reading-mobile-phones [Accessed: 26/09/2019]
Zickuhr, K et. al. Raine, L. (2014) Younger Americans and Public Libraries [Online] Available at: https://www.pewinternet.org/2014/09/10/younger-americans-and-public-libraries/ [Accessed: 26/09/2019]
