Printed Books Still Preferred Over Digital Books

A recent poll has revealed an interesting fact that although eReaders and digital books are becoming popular, people who own these devices still read more printed books than eBooks.

The poll was sponsored by USC’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and Los Angeles Times and was performed by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and American Viewpoint.

During the poll, 1500 of registered voters were asked the questions and interestingly, the number of people who own eReaders was as high as 70%.

The question that was asked form the participants was “Which of the following best describes how you read books.”

As a response, there were four options which were “Always on an e-reader,” “Mostly e-reader sometimes print,” Mostly print sometimes e-reader,” and “Always in print.”

40% of the participants said that mostly read books in printed form and occasionally in digital form. 32% of the people mostly read books on eReaders and sometimes in printed form. The percentage of the people who always read in print was 14 while 10% of the participants said that they always read on eReaders.

The survey revealed another important thing that a common conception that mostly young people have taken to eReaders is wrong.

According to the results published in Los Angeles times, “Twenty-two percent of those ages 18 to 49 own e-readers; 20% of people 50 and older have them.” Besides, the survey also showed that young people between 18 and 29 have good reading habits and the percentage of young people reading books was only slightly lower than the old ones.

The popularity of eBooks has increased immensely over the last couple of years, mainly due to eReaders and tablets. Besides, the war between tech giants on this front is also in full swing and recently Apple, along with some publishers, has been accused of violating the antitrust laws and trying to increase the prices of eBooks.

According to the Department of Justice, this deal could cost consumers more than $100 million in the past two years by adding $2 to $5 to the price of each e-book. However, while some publishers have agreed for a settlement outside court, Apple has denied the charges.