It’s been fascinating to see these results over the years. After a surge of e-book optimism from the poll’s origins in 2007 to e-book hype peak in 2013, the last decade settled into a seesaw around a pretty fixed point, with 40% on each side of the paper and electronic divid.
The only real deviation was a surge in e-book enthusiasm in 2021. I wonder if there was anything going on in the world during that time that might have contributed to that result.
This year? A definite uptick in paper book aficionados to its highest point since 2017. If you zoom out even further, the 44.4% result is the second highest percentage for paper since 2009.
What do you make of these results? Have indie bookstores recaptured your heart? Will it take further technological breakthroughs or cost concerns to shake your habits?
Let me know in the comments!
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Thanks for doing this poll again, Nathan. The results show the long ago rumors of print books’ demise have been greatly exaggerated!
Thank you for this interesting survey, Nathan. I actually prefer paper books, but they are so expensive. I buy ebooks for financial reasons. And space. I can fit hundreds on my tablet, but not in my house! But a new ebook doesn’t have the same smell as a new paper book.
I wonder how many other people buy ebooks for the same reasons?
I use the library a lot, but if I have to buy, I generally choose e-books first — because I can’t fit any more books in my house.
I am not, in theory, opposed to ebooks. However, despite all the improvements over the years, I really don’t love the on-screen reading experience, the page turning options, or the ability to easily flip back to something. And having lived long enough to move from LPs to tapes to CDs, not to mention rabbit ears to VHS, to DVDs, all of which are extinct now (‘cept, of course for LPs?!) I have NO faith in the endurance of the current digital technology. Its demise or erosion would mean I no longer own, or can no longer access my books. So for now, anything that matters has to be in paper format.
I buy ebooks for (1) when I need it RIGHT NOW, (2) the print book is too hideously expensive or unavailable, and (3) when I know it’s a read-once and discard.
Printed books are works of art as well as works of literature. If a book is valuable to me, I buy and keep it in printed form.
I spend a lot of time every day on a computer and don’t want to be looking at a screen when I read for pleasure, usually in the evenings. That’s why I have tried e-books and never been satisfied with the feel of the tablet or how complicated it feels to go back to specific page or paragraph. Plus they need to be charged! I think e books are also expensive when the books first come out. I’m pretty sure I will never like the experience of reading on a screen as much as reading a paper book. I also have no problems toting a physical book or two or three along on a trip. Paperbacks don’t take up that much space!
I have different preferences for different genres. For example, history books that I’ll go back to again and again, I like to have in paper. But for fiction, I generally buy e-books, because I have so little space for physical books. I wish there was a way to support indie bookstores when buying an e-book.