Paperbooks, alive and well

Chicago Tribune: For years, we’ve been hearing that print is dead and the electronic reading medium is the future — the whole future. And it’s not hard to imagine a day when no tree has to die for people to get all the reading they could want.

Half of Americans have already sprung for e-reading devices, where they can consume books, magazines, newspapers and other virtual fare. They are lightweight; they can hold large libraries in a small space; they can light up in the dark; and they can provide audio and video.

But there is one important group of people who would much rather do their reading in traditional formats. Not crotchety geezers living in the past, but teens and young adults, who confess a marked bias for doing things the way their great-grandparents did them.

A poll last year found that two-thirds of youngsters ages 6 to 17 prefer to read actual paper books. A Pew Research study found that 78 percent of those from ages 18 to 24 have read a print book in the past year — compared with 21 percent who have read an e-book.

The University of Washington did a pilot study that provided e-textbooks free — and found that 1 of every 4 students bought the physical textbooks anyway. Asked what format they would have chosen absent the free e-book option, only 2 percent of the students said they would have gotten the digital version, with three-quarters opting for a hard copy.