According to a new study released just last week, Americans are reading more e-books and fewer print books. This news should come as no surprise. With the rise in popularity we’ve seen in tablets and e-readers, this trend has been happening for the past few years. We now find ourselves on the precipice of a landmark event: the day e-book reading supplants print book reading as the majority. And many analysts believe that day to be coming in either 2014 or 2015.
But why is this? What is the draw for e-readers over traditional printed books? While it may be difficult to determine one specific factor, there are several contributing factors.
- Less space needed. Like many of you, I have a substantial-sized library of printed books I have gathered over the years. If I chose to do so, I could electronically store the entire library in cloud-based storage and access them through one small device. The space saved by e-readers and tablets when travelling is yet another benefit.
- Increased interactivity. A printed book can provide only what is printed on its pages. E-books can provide interactive content, website links, video and audio content, and much more. E-books can offer more than just written words. They have the ability to provide a full multimedia experience.
- Sharing potential of the content is increased. From most e-readers and tablets, not only can you read your book, you can share quotes and your thoughts online as you read. From a marketing perspective, what publisher wouldn’t love to have hundreds of readers sharing what they like best about the books they publish as they read them? There are few products that provide such an experience.
- Searchable notes. While journaling notes is an effective way of documenting your thoughts as you read, what could be better than having those notes become easily searchable?
- Cost effectiveness. If you are an avid reader, the cost effectiveness of an e-reader or tablet will eventually become a bonus for you. Because there is no physical product to print, bind, and ship, e-books are almost always cheaper to purchase than their printed versions.
These reasons and the supporting research, while not cause for alarm, are changing the publishing and retail landscape. Some would argue the change is for the better. And some would not.
While I do not see the end of the printed book anytime in the near future, I do see a future where the printed book and the e-book coexist to provide the same content to different audiences. That’s one of many reasons why we recently released the LifeWay Reader.
Do you have a tablet or e-reader? What factors led you to use it instead of reading printed books?
Call me old-fashioned, but I still like to hold a book and turn the pages. That is the only way I like to read my Bible. However, I did purchase an e-reader last year in order to reduce clutter. Also, I noticed ebooks cost less than a book.
Cheryl -
I’m still a bit old-fashioned about liking the print book as well.
I’m a child of both worlds. I love my Kindle for casual reading, but I have a hard time reading the Scriptures digitally. I like the heft of a Bible in my hands, the smell and sound of the pages as I turn them, and the ability to underline/write in the margins. For me, digital reading of the Bible provides a less interactive experience (or, at least, a less personal one).
Well stated Chad.
I agree that most e-Bibles do not allow for easy navigation. Yet I can carry several translations at once on a single lightweight device. I have five translations on my Kindle plus the ISBE and over 200 other books at the same time!
My why and I bought a Kindle for each other there years they ago for Christmas presents. We both noticed how the amount of reading we did increased immediately. I had suggested a couple of years ago LifeWay release their books in Kindle form and was excited to hear about the new e-books being released. Was very disappointed to learn that rather than release LifeWay titles in existing formats that you were releasing books in your own reader. I don’t need another reading app! Would much prefer to have all my e-books in one format I can read anywhere, especially on my designated e-reader (i.e., my Kindle.)
Robert -
LifeWay’s books are published by our trade publishing division, B&H. All books published by B&H can be purchased on ALL e-platforms, including Kindle. You do not have to have another reader to get our books.
Our LifeWay Reader is for those who would like to have a platform for exclusive evangelical Christian content. You do not have to choose between the two; you can have one or both.
When in the history of recorded time has it ever been easier to reach all four corners of the earth than the time we are living in now? I could not have written this (hopefully) humorous, heart-wrenching, and heart-warming book twenty years earlier, and have been able to reach the entire world with the click of a button; or in my case, several attempts, but misses on that annoying touch-screen that I can never seem to get right. What author with a message of ~ Simple Grace ~ from God, would not love such a time as this. Although at times, it can be a bit un-nerving in this cyber-age, not knowing if “big-brother” really is watching, on the flip side of that coin, in an instant, millions of people can spread and receive a wonderful heart-healing, soul-lifting message of Grace. In a perfect world, those millions could spread a “great-review” about a debut-book from a, late-blooming, freshman-fruitcake author, making it go viral overnight!. (Wishful thinking!) “For such a time as this!”
Kristina Louise (2012-12-18). I’m Not Bipolar—I’m Just a Fruitcake with a Dream!: Surviving the Emotional Roller Coaster of a Dream Gone Bad (Kindle Locations 580-585). CrossBooks. Kindle Edition.
I enjoy reading the Bible electronically. It is more convenient. Also, The app on my iphone A
allows me to listen while I read.
I adore reading my HCSB on my kindle. It is easier to find a specific Scripture, it stops where I left off, I can highlight and note in it rather than pen and ink write and squeeze letters in tiny spaces. Best of all I can read it in the dark in the am when I am at work. I love it. I also love that I have a full concordance on my Kindle. It is so much easier than carrying it around in tote bags. I will probably never go back to paper books. I do not lose my Kindle. I would always pick up a book, put it down and find it three months later with 20 pages read after I have started and lost four other books!
Kristina -
You have transitioned well to the digital age!
It wasn’t until I started writing my first book that I opened my eyes to the convenience of a Kindle. After I dragged 50 lbs of books to a secluded farm in my Spiritual quest to commune with God, and after being shown how many books I could keep on that handle “little device,” I finally decided that us “old fogies” need to open our minds to the “younger” generation mindset in some areas; especially if we want to reach them for Christ. Some old-fashioned things are great, but we live in a new technological society and if there is going to be a Spiritual revival of any sorts, it will be with the younger generation and not with us “stuck-in-our-ways” Baptists. Jesus was not a “stuck-in-the-old-traditional” ways kind of “teacher.” He had a new message, Holy, but new. I hope to reach the younger generation for Jesus and start a “Holy wildfire.” I serve a BIG God and I know that He can do it if we open our minds to the way He wants to do it. Let’s all jump on board and pray that end-times harvest to begin soon. God wants as many hearts and souls as He can get as the time draws near and we need to start tearing down the walls that we have built with out “stuck-in-our-ways” version of combative Christianity. We can be compassionate Christians without being compromising Christians! Blessings, Kristina Louise (Late-blooming, fruitcake, freshman author ready to turn the world on its ear with a wonderful message of ~Simple Grace~ from God.)
I use a Kindle quite a bit. While I still love the feel of a book, I find myself gravitating to the Kindle more and more. Having just signed with a publisher for my own book, however, I can still see the value of print books. While I am definitely putting forth an effort to sell in both formats as many copies as possible, I’m not willing to put all my eggs in the e-book basket. Print books are easier to lend and give on a personal face-to-face basis, easier to use as a marketing tool (think autographed copies) and give the owner a sense of intristic value by having a physical object they hold in their hands, versus a digital file. That, plus the advance of technological obsolence, tells me that there will be times that individuals will want a print copy, as opposed to an e-book stored on a broken or obsolete machine. I can tell you that I still pull a musty copy of an old favorite from my bookself for a re-visit, but I haven’t played the video games that were on my 286 PC since it was unplugged and relegated to the technology graveyard.