Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions

analogpixel

Watching TV/Movies through any device is a bother, I have to sift through all the advertisements/brand placements for that device to find anything, and most of the time it's the same 20 movies repeated over and over in every section. Reading on a E-device is a bother, I have to sift through all the "sponsored" books and whatever other crap the ebook reader company decides to add, and be at the whims of whatever they decide they want to do with "your" device that day. Cell-phones are a bother, they are just devices optimized for stealing your attention, money, information, or all the above. Pretty much everything tech related anymore is a bother. I would love to see someone come out with services for music, movies, books that are just APIs you subscribe to and can use any client you want. Think of the novelty of having an interface where you could ignore movies you never want to see, only show the music genres you care about, and not have advertisements for romance novels on your e-reader.

skywhopper

Because they are better in almost every way.

akkartik

I haven't purchased a DRM'd ebook in 8 years.

jrmg

I’m surprised to see digital books are still growing in popularity. I notice way few Kindles in airports and on planes in recent years compared to ten or fifteen years ago. I guess people are reading books on their phones and tablets?

MajorTakeaway

I just bought 'Psychology and Life' sixteenth edition and pondered just how much worse an ebook version of it would have been or unbearably clunky a pdf version would be as well. The less screen time I spend, the better I feel.

el_jay

On top of all the extremely valid points about the ad-driven cognitive friction inherent to modern device usage: print books can’t get yoinked off my shelf because a rich person with political connections wants that.

daoboy

Physical books are irreplaceable to me. I love the feel, the smell, and having a house full of them. Just went to a library sale this morning and got even more. I also really need a break from screens, and reading a book is a great excuse to not be on my phone or watching tv.

bentley

I read about two dozen books a year, the majority as audiobooks, most of the rest as ebooks, and typically one or two in print. I quite like print books, but favor ebooks for the minimal size and weight. I prefer ebooks to audiobooks too, but have far more opportunities to listen to an audiobook than to sit down and read an ebook. Even though print books are by far the minority of my reading, I still purchase print copies of books I enjoy, for discoverability. I’ve loved reading since childhood because I grew up in a house filled to bursting with my parents’ books. Nobody told me to read Tolkien, or Heinlein, or Verne, or Jack London, or Greek mythology—I simply took those books off the shelf and read them. And when we visited friends and family, I would read books from their shelves too. None of my young relatives have access to my ebook or audiobook history, and I’m not going to hammer my own interests into their heads… but I’m lucky enough to have lots of space, so I keep my bookshelves overflowing.

UltraSane

I read for information and online communication. I mostly consume books via audiobooks which are awesome when combined with good bluetooth earbuds and a local server like Audiobookshelf. Audiobooks are great because I can multitask by listening when I am walking, biking, lifting, driving, or shopping. I've listened to every Discworld novel and the entire Malazan series. I would never had actually sat down and read the malazan series.

booleandilemma

Physical books are great. No ads, no battery to charge, no worry the content is going to be censored because somebody somewhere decides they don't like what they say. No worry they're going to be removed from my shelf. I can lend them to whomever I want. I can mark them up. The book in its current form is perfect. We don't really need to change it. And then there's the whole experience of going into a bookstore and just looking around. It's wonderful. One of the last things our society has yet to fuck up.

keiferski

I’ve found that I have a hard time remembering what ebooks I’ve read, whereas the physical form of a print book makes it stick in my memory more. Some kind of physical “totem” that came with an ebook would be an interesting idea, like a bookmark or a postcard-sized note.

pseingatl

The problem with printed books is issues suffered by the visually impaired. It's not an issue solely with font size; printed books have no dark mode. If you're a digital nomad, weight is an issue as well.

SilentM68

I used to browse bookstores all the time in the past, but there are fewer and fewer physical bookstores around. Malls have been closing down for the longest time. Even when books were available, the prices were extremely high. I'm excluding school textbooks prices which are and always remain ultrahigh. If prices were more reasonable, I would think that more people would opt for physical books.

flats

It’s the complete disregard of typesetting in ebooks that has always repelled me. I fundamentally reject the notion that all books can be reduced to text files. Design matters!

sacredSatan

I like the convenience of ebooks but the physical feel of paperback is unmatched. I can still remember where I was when I read a certain book or even a chapter in case of a physical book. With my kindle it's a blur to me. I also like to see my bookmark gradually make its way down the book over time.