For more than a year, Amazon has sold more digital books than physical ones.
If you look at the data, it’s easy to assume we’re no longer interested in paper books. But there’s a flaw. Consider the following questions.
- How often have you read an eBook from cover to cover?
- Consider the books that have created the most value for you. Were they digital or physical?
- When determining whether to purchase a copy of the book, do you preview it physically and buy it digitally or visa versa?
- If you wanted to amass a substantial library, would it be physical or digital in nature?
Like Steve Jobs, you could argue that “a generation has to die” for the new technology to take root. But that means my generation would have to die, and I’m younger than you.
The ultimate manifestation of books will always have a physical nature
Don’t get me wrong, digital books are great. They’re convenient. They’re inexpensive. But that also makes them less serious. If I’m going to spend hours reading on a subject, I want a real book.
As you know, I’m a IT student so I’m constantly building miniature applications. Today’s application is a single-question survey. Please answer it below:
Martyn, just get a Kindle already. I did and it’s great. But if I were buying a programming book, a Kindle would not suffice! But I read the Hunger Games Trilogy on Kindle and it was MUCH better than reading it on a book.
I say….
Pleasure reading – kindle
Serious study – paper
I could have edited that… Reading it on a book? Starting every sentence with ‘but’? Oops. Well, you know what I meant.
Okay, you’ve got me seriously curious. Why was the Hunger Games Trilogy better on a Kindle?
Don’t worry about your grammer. In fact, I’m not sure how I would rephrase “reading it on a book.” That fits the physical nature of the book nicely!
The Kindle is easier to read on if you’re just reading straight through. It’s more difficult as a reference I think. You can hold it in one hand, adjust the size of the text to your liking, and quickly get a word definition by pressing on it.
beautiful job on the survey.
I’m more likely to buy a book on kindle because it’s instant gratification and it’s cheap, but if I LOVE the book, I’m buying a physical copy. Always. Even if I already have it on kindle.
Hi Denise,
Been a while. Glad you like it! I had gobs of fun coding it.
See, you’re exactly what I’m talking about. If you really like the book, you buy a “real” one.
Curious you’d say that Denise. A surprisingly low 6 percent of Susan Boyle’s ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ 701,000 total first week sales were digital downloads. The balance were CDs.
Digital has given me new forms, such as cheap and free ebooks and pdf’s for download. I build my digital library each week. But I love books, the smell and feel of them, cover art, portability, signs of wear and tear, no harm if dropped, etc. It is far too early to decide that it is one or the other. Digital is just finding its legs. Enjoy both!
I love the smell of books too! That Amazon warehouse has such a unique smell about it.
Writing a long work, or just needing to flesh-it-out, a paper and pen ‘work’ the mind better. Interestingly, purchase an antique dip pen and you’ll feel the need to ‘rise to the occasion’ with greater human experience (critical even in business) in the hand-penned phrase. It’s far beyond a keystroke’s instant brain hopscotching. Two comments: A typist speeds 80wpm a court brief that’s taken a legal panel the long day’s toiling to author. So too, a hand-written speech pulls deeply upon the speaker as the audience. Can’t do without books, turning the page after page suspense and knowledge. My folks translated university textbooks for extra money years back. Now, see what an auto-translation app misses? We might read and digest snatched texted messages, but like this valid blog online page, so manually scribed sheets are valid tools on all venues. (Computers, not so much.)
I have a KOBO Vox eReader. I’ve downloaded several book previews. I’ve downloaded only two books at this time and I’ve gone online using the Reader.
I’m an avid reader, ask my husband. By avid reader that means I could be reading 3 or 4 books at the same time. If a book grabs my attention I will read cover-to-cover, no jumping to another book before I’ve finished it. The KOBO lets me read several books at one time without having them all lying about the house.
I still love the feel of a real book in my hands and I’ve built myself a great reference library from real books. Sometimes it’s just easier to the KOBO on hand because you don’t have to carry 2-3 books at the same time. My purse is heavy enough.
I have a Kindle, and love reading digital books. I find them quicker and easier to read than conventional books, and overall, I prefer digital books over paper books for pleasure reading. That said, I still enjoy traditional books as well, particularly if it is for reference or in-depth study.
As for amassing a library, I’m good with having a mixed library. The convenience of having hundreds of books in a portable digital device is amazing, but there will always be books that I prefer to have in paper form (again, for reference or study). The same argument can be made for things like music – quality is often better on a record or CD compared to an mp3, but the convenience of dropping thousands of songs into a phone or iPod is a game changer.
In the end, I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer – more of an individual choice. I buy digital books for pleasure reading, and I buy physical books for reference and study.
It’s definitely a hot button topic, and like you said, I think it’s a subjective thing. Judging by the (limited) results from the poll, I’d say the eBook revolution has affected a lot of people.
Thanks for weighing in, Ryan!
Excellent point about the vast gulf that still exists between physical products and their digital counterparts.
There is still no substitute for the tactile sense of a “real” (physical) book. Despite the lack of instant gratification associated with ordering a physical book online, the anticipation of receiving a package builds desire, which outweighs the fleeting high of instant gratification. And going to a bookstore is an event, that you have to make time for and look forward to.
I’m a huge music lover, and I purchase quite a bit of music via iTunes, but I still prefer CDs and records to digital downloads. And I often end up buying certain CDs, even after I’ve downloaded the album from iTunes, that I have a particular affinity for because I feel a much greater sense of permanence in owning the physical media.
One note – I think a better title would be: “Has the eBook Revolution Really Affected You?”
If you like having the physical media, it would be more cost effective to buy the CD first, then import it into iTunes – that way you only purchase it once. Unfortunately, there isn’t a quick and easy way to have both copies of books like there is with music and movies.
Interesting point. I’d never thought of that before.
Glad you’re still into physical books, Ryan. That makes two of us!
Good choice on the headline. I’m going to change it here.
I agree with Stephen – pleasure reading: Kindle. Serious reading: paper. Although I do find I’m veering towards more Kindle reading even for the serious stuff. I also agree with Francesca that a Kindle (or KOBO) is easier because you can take ALL your books with you in one package. I take my Kindle to the gym to read while on the exercise bike and don’t have to worry about keeping it open to the right page when it’s sitting on the book rest. I have a Kindle Touch so I can’t read in the dark (I think you can with a Kindle Fire), but I love being able to read on my laptop in the middle of the night without turning on lights and disturbing anyone. My only complaint is that Kindle books are expensive after years of ordering used books on Amazon for .01 plus 3.99 shipping!
If it means anything, I’m not a young “born into computers” gal, for whom an electronic book might be an easy switch. We’re talking fifty years of reading the “old-fashioned” way!
The Kindle (or insert-your-e-reader-here) solves three problems in my life:
1) I don’t have room in my house for all the books I enjoy that I’d like to own. And it’s hard to justify buying another house just so I can buy more books.
2) When I go on vacation, there are usually 10-20 books I think I might want to read “if I have time” and “if I’m in the mood”. Depending on the sort of vacation, I can’t always haul a box of books with me. When I have them all on my Kindle, I have lots of options. I can catch up on industry reports and e-books or relax with the Hunger Games or whatever pulp fiction I’m in the mood for.
3) Convenience, day to day. This is closely related to the vacation item, but somehow separate in my mind. Any given day I might have a few minutes standing in line at the DMV or waiting at the car repair shop or whatever. Suddenly, I have some free time. And if I have my Kindle in my purse or backpack, I can make use of that time!
BONUS: And a bonus item… I really like the ability to highlight and annotate my books. I don’t like marring real printed books with notes, and besides, their margins are too small for everything I want to say. I’m always finding beautiful passages in fiction books or key principles in non-fiction ones. It’s so nice to be able to keep track of those electronically!
I’m not saying the printed book is dead. I don’t think it ever will be. We are physical people in a physical world, and we like to interact with our physical world. So until we live in a world like the movie “Surrogates” or some other virtual reality, the printed book will still be something to enjoy and savor. But maybe not as much… and maybe for a smaller segment of the population.
In the end, the printed book was just a vehicle. A vehicle for an idea. It’s really all about the idea and what’s required to effectively transfer it from one brain to another, not the package. Then again, sometimes it’s about the *experience* of the idea (movies, etc), and there’s something unique about the experience of holding a book and turning pages, too.
Marty,
I self-published two eBooks and sold over 25,000 copies, the books did so well I received three publishing contract offers (there’s a whole story: http://www.soundwisdom.com/2012/05/kimanzi-constable-signs-publishing-agreement-with-sound-wisdom/). I probably could make more money with the eBooks but I want my 86 year old grandpa to hold my book in his hand. I want my kids to take a copy to show off to there friends at school. There’s something about a physical copy.
I love eBooks, they’re what got me noticed but I jumped at a chance to have my book in print.
Hey Martyn, your survey didn’t work for me.
In other news, I would go with this answer: I prefer physical for books that I need to study (insert business books here), I prefer digital for pleasure reading (insert fiction here), and I prefer both for spiritual (insert Bible and other books). Physical is preferred for business books because I need to mark them up, and digital is preferred or accepted for the other because I like having these books with me throughout the day without having to carry a bag.
Overall, very interesting question. It will be really interesting to see how this plays out, and I’m very curious about a generation or two below yours. If they start using digital textbooks, say iPads built into desks, it will be interesting to see if there need for physical books disappears…
Survey didn’t work!? What computer are you on? Is it that evil Google laptop?
No seriously, what browser/OS are you on?
I’m looking forward to seeing those iPads built into desks.
Hi Martyn,
How are you doing?
We can’t deny the fact we all have been digitalised to various extents whether it’s a book , paying money, or the way we consume the information (add blogs here).
Now, if you see the trend, it’s clearly digital information seems to be having edge over physical books especially if you are learning something.
In my case, I did use physical books through out schools and colleges, but when it came to learning technology / programming, clearly digital format outsmarted physical books because you can use code snippets to try out for learnings, see a online demo of something which is not possible in physical books.
However, when it comes to reading a novel, physical books appears more soothing to me.
A kindle comes very close to physical book , however iPad fails as it causes strain on eyes for long reading.
Hence, usage of format depends upon upon the factor about what information we are consuming.
Thanks for the interesting article.Take care.