4 ms·

Huh, I hadn't heard that anywhere. Got a citation? Sounds like an interesting cultural phenomenon, assuming it's supported by the data.

by zzalpha 12y ago

falcolas 12y ago
Sure, here you go. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/25/young-adult-readers-prefer-printed-ebooks http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/25/young-adult-rea... http://www.publishingtechnology.com/research/ http://www.publishingtechnology.com/research/
- zzalpha 12y ago
  Huh, so this covered 16-24 year olds. So, a bit of history, recall the Kindle was first released in late 2007 (hard to believe it was both that long ago and yet only that long ago...). The youngest in that age bracket would've been 8 at that point, and the oldest 16. By the time ebooks really took off they probably would've been ten and 18 respectively, which means more or less growing up exposed to paper books before mass market electronic alternatives were available. Given that, I wonder if we're still in a generational swing here. It's possible that's not the case. But I'm not convinced this study absolutely proves that "there's obviously some value to the experience of reading from a physical artifact, and the younger generations are also obviously able to identify this value." It could simply be that people prefer what they grew up with. shrug
  - falcolas 12y ago
    > It could simply be that people prefer what they grew up with. shrug If this was the case, there wouldn't be a generational difference between that age group and older age groups, since everybody born before 2007 would have "grown up with" regular books.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    - zzalpha 12y ago
      Hmm, unless I'm missing something, neither of the references you provided support the hypothesis of a generational change. The one study looked at reading preferences of 16-24 year olds and found 62% prefer paper. The other study analyzed reading behaviours (not preferences) of 18-34 year olds, finding 64% (UK)/79% (US) read a paper book in the previous year. Now, from behaviour let's say we can infer preference. In that case the second study found that an overwhelming majority of 18-34 year olds read print books in the last year, which seems to align with 16-24 year old preferences (though, again, it only speaks to behaviour not preference). That would seem to refute the idea that there's a generational difference at play, here. Of course, I could be missing some key point. It wouldn't be the first time.

Huh, I hadn't heard that anywhere. Got a citation? Sounds like an interesting cultural phenomenon, assuming it's supported by the data.

by zzalpha 12y ago

Huh, I hadn't heard that anywhere. Got a citation? Sounds like an interesting cultural phenomenon, assuming it's supported by the data.

falcolas 12y ago

Sure, here you go. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/25/young-adult-readers-prefer-printed-ebooks http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/25/young-adult-rea... http://www.publishingtechnology.com/research/ http://www.publishingtechnology.com/research/

zzalpha 12y ago
Huh, so this covered 16-24 year olds. So, a bit of history, recall the Kindle was first released in late 2007 (hard to believe it was both that long ago and yet only that long ago...). The youngest in that age bracket would've been 8 at that point, and the oldest 16. By the time ebooks really took off they probably would've been ten and 18 respectively, which means more or less growing up exposed to paper books before mass market electronic alternatives were available. Given that, I wonder if we're still in a generational swing here. It's possible that's not the case. But I'm not convinced this study absolutely proves that "there's obviously some value to the experience of reading from a physical artifact, and the younger generations are also obviously able to identify this value." It could simply be that people prefer what they grew up with. shrug
- falcolas 12y ago
  > It could simply be that people prefer what they grew up with. shrug If this was the case, there wouldn't be a generational difference between that age group and older age groups, since everybody born before 2007 would have "grown up with" regular books.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - zzalpha 12y ago
    Hmm, unless I'm missing something, neither of the references you provided support the hypothesis of a generational change. The one study looked at reading preferences of 16-24 year olds and found 62% prefer paper. The other study analyzed reading behaviours (not preferences) of 18-34 year olds, finding 64% (UK)/79% (US) read a paper book in the previous year. Now, from behaviour let's say we can infer preference. In that case the second study found that an overwhelming majority of 18-34 year olds read print books in the last year, which seems to align with 16-24 year old preferences (though, again, it only speaks to behaviour not preference). That would seem to refute the idea that there's a generational difference at play, here. Of course, I could be missing some key point. It wouldn't be the first time.