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Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens
- koolba 10y agoIt's anecdata, but I know I much prefer a physical book to a digital one. Even more so for documents (not source code) that I'm reviewing.
- lb1lf 10y agoAnd, while the plural of anecdote isn't data, here's another vote for reading on dead trees, whether it is for enjoyment or work. (I typically print a hard copy of the datasheet for any component I consider using; I keep the PDF handy on screen for searching, then study the hard copy, make annotations and highlights as I go. A colleague of mine refers to my bookshelf of datasheets as 'Odd's 20th-century Kindle'. :-)
- strictnein 10y agoAny document I have to read that's over 4-5 pages I print out and read somewhere other than in front of my computer.
- rpeden 10y agoI think that in some cases, it can even be helpful for source code. There have been a couple of times where I wanted to understand how an interesting library or bit of code worked, so I printed the code out and made notes right on the page as I read through it. I'm sure I could have accomplished the same thing digitally - but for some reason, the knowledge seems to 'stick' more quickly when I'm writing out the notes physically on the same page as the code. IIRC, one of the developers in 'Coders at Work' liked to print out code he was working on to help him develop an understanding of it. I think it was Josh Bloch, but it's been a while since I've read the book. All of this is also anecdotal, but I think it's worth a try for anyone who hasn't. It might be useless for most people, but I believe in experimenting with different ways of absorbing information to find out what works best with your brain.
- sevensor 10y ago> There have been a couple of times where I wanted to understand how an interesting library or bit of code worked, so I printed the code out and made notes right on the page as I read through it. I do this as well, although I usually get a page or two in, figure out what the code does, and regret printing out the rest. Still worth doing, but I need to train myself to waste less paper.
- Johnny555 10y agoUntil I got a Kindle Voyage, I found the Kindle reading experience to be subpar to books (but still more convenient in most cases). But with the higher resolution of the Voyage (300ppi), better backlight, and most importantly, buttons to move forward/back instead of swiping, I now prefer the Voyage over paper books. Much easier to read one-handed on the train, and having a good backlight makes for convenient reading at night (with the screen brightness turned down enough that it doesn't bother my partner). I've pretty much stopped buying paper books now, while with my old kindle, I'd alternate between paper and digital books.
- dagenleg 10y agoWow, Amazon now even injects their Kindle promotions in HackerNews comments. Even adblock cannot help me now. Nowhere is safe!
- devty 10y agoWhat makes you say this? Are all positive reviews a corporate sponsored promotion in your view?
- dagenleg 10y agoWell, the article itself is not discussing the merits of Kindle Voyage so the comment looked out of place for me. And certainly marketing via internet comments is a thing, even on HackerNews. I think it's called "integrated" marketing, or whatever the current newspeak for that one is. Regardless my comment was mostly made tongue-in-cheek
- jlarocco 10y agoWat? Somebody's positive experience with an eBook reader is certainly on topic for an article discussing eBooks. And two seconds looking their karma and other comments makes it fairly obvious the OP isn't an Amazon shill.
- Johnny555 10y ago
- mrcactu5 10y agoyou can't write on a computer screen -- even with touch screens it's rather clumsy. books took several thousand years to evolve.... give them some credit.
- NoGravitas 10y agoSome of us don't write in books, either...
- chromalife 10y agoI prefer having a physical book. Flicking through pages to reread sections, highlighting and margin notes are not yet seamless with the reading app I'm using. But Getting a tablet has increased the amount I'm reading by at least a factor of 4. It is now so easy to buy books after reading a recommendation online. The free sample feature makes it so I don't buy a book I won't like, And the built in dictionary has me looking up new words without pausing my reading flow. Physical is great but I don't think I'll ever go back for reading fiction. Having said all that my kids will be getting physical books. The distractions in electronic devices is something I'm still struggling with.
- jobu 10y ago> Having said all that my kids will be getting physical books. The distractions in electronic devices is something I'm still struggling Having four kids myself, I would never have tried to start them reading on a device. Kids don't start reading novels or textbooks, they have books that are physically interactive in a way that doesn't translate very well to a screen. Starting out, children learn by touch and taste as much as with ears or eyes. Even at ages four to six, many kids need a physical or tactile element to help them learn. My youngest used to love turning the pages back and forth to talk about the differences in the characters of Dr Seuss books like Go Dog Go. The physical interaction of turning a page to demonstrate progression of time in a story is something that doesn't seem to translate as well when swiping or tapping in a tablet.
- rustynails 10y agoI like the thoughtfulness of your comment. They are good advantages. And ... My kids prefer (important word, prefer) paper copies of books over a kindle/iPad and I see a similar trend with their friends. The book has an interesting texture, you can fiddle with it. It's easy to skim ahead and back and flip between two sections of the book to compare. The kids I've observed find books like a comfy pair of shoes. I am guessing, but I think it's about control; ease of access in a non-linear fashion. You can feel in control of a paper book. Front cover, back cover, starts of chapters. They're hard to access with a kindle but easy with paper.
- 10y ago
- SomeStupidPoint 10y agoI have a number of ebooks and PDFs, mostly references. I have a number of the reference books as both ebooks and paper books. I just... Don't have the freedom with digital copies of things that I do with paper ones, and I refuse to have key knowledge DRM'd. Papers on PDF are alright (as in, I only print really important ones), but proprietary ebooks? Im not trusting my only copy of professional knowledge to the people who silently removed copies of 1984. That would be insane.
- panzagl 10y agoOn the other hand, I routinely have to take a box of books to Goodwill, the library sale, or the dump. I can still refer to every digital work I've ever owned, whether on Amazon or pdf. So which is really a more secure way of containing knowledge?
- problems 10y agoDefinitely, but there's plenty of ways to obtain legitimately without DRM, obtain legitimately and strip DRM or just straight up pirate books. And the advantages from that point are excellent. I can read the same thing on my phone, e-reader or desktop, so it's a very fluid experience whatever I'm doing.
- jasonkostempski 10y agoAdults too.
- flippyhead 10y agoI know this seems a common sentiment here, but I just don't get it. There is almost nothing better about a physical book vs. a Kindle, especially on the high-eng (e.g the Voyage). Whenever I've discussed this with people the only reason I seem to get is some vague sense of nostalgia.
- bonaldi 10y ago- Random access. - Non-random access: we are surprisingly good at knowing where in a book something we read was, and flipping back to it. While keeping our finger in the place or places we were. You can build a working stack of locations in paper that's a pain to do in every e-reader I've tried. - Notes/Marginalia/Markup are available on both, but with vastly more expressiveness and options on paper (though without search) - Share/re-share/bequeath - Some evidence of better comprehension and retention of physical reading vs screens. - No batteries required. - Attractive physical objects can be a pleasure to own (and a pain in the ass when moving house)
- lmm 10y ago> Notes/Marginalia/Markup are available on both, but with vastly more expressiveness and options on paper I wouldn't want to annotate or highlight a paper book - that feels like damaging it. > No batteries required. Not really an issue for a Kindle-like device - it lasts about 30 days without a charge, which is long enough to read more books than I'd care to carry on a no-electricity trip.
- qntty 10y ago>I wouldn't want to annotate or highlight a paper book - that feels like damaging it. Don't do it with library books obviously, but if you own the book, try it. It vastly improved my reading experience when I started annotating.
- l3m0ndr0p 10y agoAs a human adult I prefer the physical book. Perhaps we need to research a replacement for paper instead of books on computer or paper itself. The new material should be like paper, but better. The paper like material should last hundreds, if not thousands of years, be safe, non-toxic and maybe even recyclable.
- holydude 10y agoI prefer physical books for reading fiction and eink / display for tech books.
- devty 10y agoFascinating - I am the exact opposite! I've found that for reading fictions - a narrative that mostly move forward - the limition of eink displays in freely flipping between pages to be less annoying.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- TWAndrews 10y agoThis is definitely true for my 7 year old daughter. She's an avid reader, but even when I buy a book she is very interested in reading (typically the next in a current series) on a Kindle rather than getting her a hard copy, she'll end up reading something else.
- neom 10y agoI think that the quality of intake of information is somewhat different when it comes to projected light vs reflected light. I think that with dyslexia printed words are slightly easier because it's easier to see the edge of the ink (so you can see the shape better), on a screen it's much harder to see the shapes in the letters. The dyslexia font thing helps a little but it's kinda gimmicky I think.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- alpaca128 10y ago> I think that with dyslexia printed words are slightly easier because it's easier to see the edge of the ink What e-book reader have you tried? The more expensive Kindles have a high resolution, on my Paperwhite the edges of the letters are very sharp just like in a printed book or magazine, no matter how close I hold it to my face. Combined with the right backlight setting and some daylight it really looks like a printed page to me.
- overcast 10y agoWhile I still use my Kindle for travel, I've actually purchased more hardcover books SINCE I got a Kindle, then I have at any other point in my life. Using the Kindle, just gave me even more appreciation for the experience of holding a book, flipping the pages, the smell, that whole tactile experience that is just missing otherwise. I'm also making a serious attempt to distance myself from technology for at least part of the day. Smartphones have essentially taking over my life, and I'm actively removing myself from that as well.
- panzagl 10y agoIf the tactile experience means that much I'd think you'd be too pissed to read anything from the past 40 years or so except from small specialist publishers. Even hardbacks now are mostly cheaply made disposable products, with whatever money that goes into their production apparently wasted on the dust jacket.
- emodendroket 10y agoI have the opposite experience. I read a lot on the train and I read a lot of books on the Kindle I probably would have avoided before because they seemed so large that I didn't want to carry them or they just seemed imposing. I also find reading for extended periods on the Kindle far more comfortable. The only thing I don't prefer it for is books where I know I'll be flipping back and forth a lot (textbooks, reference manuals, etc.).
- 10y ago
- sizzzzlerz 10y agoEbooks are fine for quick referrals but I simply can't stand using them for sustained reading. If I'm engrossed in reading a paper book, I'll knock off a hundred pages without noticing the time. I try to do that on my iPad or a computer monitor and I'm edgy and disinterested in just a handful of pages.
- emodendroket 10y agoThe Kindle really is way, way better for extended reading.
- colmvp 10y agoYeah, I recognize the valid criticisms of the Kindle, specifically it doesn't feel as nice as reading a paper book, but the ability to control brightness and font-size, alongside the super light weight of the Kindle makes for some very easy extended reading.
- smonff 10y agoA barely twenty years old technology is not gonna take over a five hundred old refined one.
- mercurysmessage 10y agoI prefer to read on my kindle. More convenient and can be used at night (paperwhite). I like to read, be it a paper book or an ebook. I don't see why the whole ebooks vs. paper is a thing, at all.
- chad-autry 10y agoStudy seems to exclude e-ink, (when grouping kindle with iPad, I assume they mean the android tablet) while many of the comments here are arguing about e-ink vs books. I'm not surprised by the study. My 2.5 year old would much rather watch something if the tablet is available than read. Even the interactive and pictures + audio books aren't much competition.
- Gonzih 10y agoI feel that whenever I have book that Im reading on kindle it's much harder for me to pick it up and continue reading after couple of days.
- pharrington 10y agoWell yeah; since right now kids are still human beings, the animal is just going to be far more receptive to staring at broad spectrum light than narrow spectrum light. That's before accounting for what we already know about human children needing way more tactile stimulation than adults. Of course, 10 years from now when we've started optimizing our genetically engineered offspring for staring into the black mirror, all bets are off.
- stinkytaco 10y agoI've just finished doing quite a bit of reading and research on this since e-books are big responsibility of mine as a librarian. The data seems to point to most people not having a really strong preference. There are a small percentage of people (less that 10%) that prefer ebooks and a larger percentage (30%+) that prefer physical books, but most people's preference is either complicated (they prefer one for a specific use case such as travel or technical books) or not that strong. We are looking to shift to a fulfillment model, which reduces collection crossover some. Most people just want to read their book and will take it however they can get it soonest. For what it's worth, I expect our ebook circulation to top out at about 30-35%, which is about where estimates of the commercial market are. Those estimates are complicated by Amazon's holding Kindle Direct numbers close the chest, which are probably fairly large.
- petra 10y agoDoes your literature review only takes into account e-ink kindles ? because a lot of the research literature disregards the uniqueness of the kindle.
- stinkytaco 10y agoIt's more general to "ebooks". FWIW, Kindle's make up a plurality of our e-book circulation, but we don't know the ratio of black and white to tablets. Anecdotally, we see a fair amount of Fire Tablets, but that could just be because people using Fire Tablets need more help. The survey I'm referencing (along with some other supporting data) is Pew, so take that for what it's worth.
- ilamont 10y agoI'm an indie publisher of utility nonfiction (i.e. how-to guides). Close to 90% of online unit sales are print. This number has actually risen in recent years as print has grown and ebook sales have remained flat or declined. There are lots of theories floating around on why this is so, but I have to say that Google and Apple have really dropped the ball while Amazon continues to blaze forward on many product and service fronts. For example: at one time the iPad ebook experience was vastly superior to the original Kindle, now with the Kindle Fire and Paperwhite (not to mention the Kindle iOS app) Amazon is in front. For an analysis of trends in the industry check out the Author Earnings reports here: http://authorearnings.com/ http://authorearnings.com/
- jlarocco 10y agoConsidering just the reading experience, I prefer physical books, too. But there's more to consider, and eBooks are better and more convenient in every user case that I have. I still buy a lot of physical books, but only from used book stores, and only when there's unlikely to ever be an eBook. If I'm buying a new book, it's going to be digital. The only exception is for outdoor guide books.
- vivekd 10y agopaper books are better for children I think because they need a lot of pictures, and e-readers really haven't gotten up to that level. Also, I think it's good for children to have physical books to hold and interact with that allow for no distractions. As an adult though, I much prefer ebooks, it's more portable and convenient. I do almost all of my reading on e-readers now.
- mmanfrin 10y agoI cannot read longer books unless I'm reading on an ereader. Normal books are fine in paper or ebook, but if a book is >500 pages, I psych myself out when trying to read (and also find it unwieldy to read on public transit when I dont have a seat). The other bit that I could not live without now is the time-left-in-chapter estimator. It's so much easier for me to get squirreled away for hours because I'll end a chapter and see the next one is only 12 minutes... repeat x 10.
- khc 10y agoChildren also prefer to eat fries and chips
- gnicholas 10y agoThis article significantly misrepresents the study. It says that children prefer to read on paper than on devices, which indicates that children were asked about their preferences, or asked about habits that are likely to reveal their preferences. This is not the case. Subjects were never asked which they liked better, and the underlying research report clearly indicates that the differences in their behavior between reading on screen and on paper could be due to their lack of awareness of where to get free ebooks. Since kids don't have credit cards, they wouldn't be able to buy Kindle books, and might not even have an account. So looking at observational data about what kids use to read books is not a good way to determine what kids "prefer" in this instance. You'd have to give kids the same books in paper and on digital and then see which one they end up reading. The underlying research is fine, and appropriately nuanced. The article describing it is misleading clickbait.
- pharrington 10y agoThe research's starting point is literally treating all iPads and all Kindles as the same device. It is not appropriately nuanced.
- aaron695 10y agoBoth the article and the research is a giant cliché. Neither seems to have a basic understanding of either technology or even perceptions of technology. >Challenging the assumption that all young people prefer to read on screens Who believes this? They don't seem to source this claim. It's seems like academic karma whoring. State people believe something they don't actually believe, disprove it so you get karma.
- erickhill 10y agoWe bought Kindles for both of my kids, as they expressed a sincere interest. Today, those devices collect a lot of dust. I can't put my finger on why. With my son (7), I do know he seems to really enjoy books that include pictures scattered throughout the text (e.g. Geronimo Stilton). For my daughter (9), who reads very thick paper books typically in series, I really don't know - so has a huge reading appetite and reads every chance she can get. It may be she has much easier access to paper versions. She almost never has to ask us to buy her a book as she can just go pick one up. I should ask her. I do sometimes wonder if there is a bit of subliminal affection for the covers of books, too, to reinforce one's personal identity, which you never get with a black mirror.
- anotherevan 10y agoSome anecdotes: I (late 40s) love my eink ereader (a Kobo Aura HD) when reading for pleasure. I also use it for reading a lot of web-page articles away from the computer (via it’s pocket integration). I’ve read 205 books in the last three years[1] and I would say less than five were physical books. On the other hand, almost all those books were fiction, read for pleasure. I would never read that amount on a tablet screen or any similar screen that emits its own light. I also find for technical topics, especially if they involve lots of diagrams or tables, I prefer physical over electronic because the ability to navigate around and annotate is so much faster and superior. § My kids, who are now in the teens and both avid readers, prefer physical books over electronic almost exclusively. They are willing to wait weeks to get hold of a physical version of an eagerly anticipated tome rather than get the electronic version immediately. The only time my daughter uses an eink reader is when something she really wants to read is only being published electronically, never physically. I have tried to get her interested in a few books or series I think she would like, but with the rare exception was unsuccessful unless I could provide a physical version of the book. § At the opposite end, my dad (late 70s) who while not quite a luddite is far from a digital native, has expressed interest in getting an ebook reader primarily because he can then change the text to a comfortable size for his failing eyesight. [1] http://www.michevan.id.au/tag/books/ http://www.michevan.id.au/tag/books/