Washington Post: “Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading In Print”

From The Washington Post:

The preference for print over digital can be found at independent bookstores such as the Curious Iguana in downtown Frederick, Md., where owner Marlene England said millennials regularly tell her they prefer print because it’s “easier to follow stories.” Pew studies show the highest print readership rates are among those ages 18 to 29, and the same age group is still using public libraries in large numbers.
It can be seen in the struggle of college textbook makers to shift their businesses to more profitable e-versions. Don Kilburn, North American president for Pearson, the largest publisher in the world and the dominant player in education, said the move to digital “doesn’t look like a revolution right now. It looks like an evolution, and it’s lumpy at best.”
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[Naomi S.] Baron [American University Professor and author of Words Onscreen: The Fate of Readingin a Digital World] cites research showing readers spend a little more than one minute on Web pages, and only 16 percent of people read word-by-word. That behavior can bleed into reading patterns when trying to tackle even lengthier texts on-screen.

Read the Complete Article (About 1200 Words)
See Also: New Republic Interviews Author of “Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World” (January 15, 2015)

Filed under: Interviews, Libraries, News, Public Libraries, Publishing