The reign of e-books may be nearing its end thanks to the 73% of Pew Research Center surveyed readers who kept the tradition of reading print books alive!
Despite the increase in the patronage of electronic devices and diversity of e-book platforms, the demand for e-books has decreased in recent times. It is uncertain whether the return of print books is momentary or bound to rule the publishing industry once and for all. The extinction of print was predicted but hot off the press statistics prove otherwise. Reading print books improves human intellect by resulting in excellent test scores, helps readers track their progress and allows easy access to guiding tools.
Certain drawbacks of reading and studying from e-books may negatively impact students’ academic performances. Those drawbacks are demonstrated in an outcome of an experiment conducted by Anne Mangen of Norway’s University of Stavanger. Mangen assigns a 28-page story to 50 participants. Half of the participants are instructed to read it on a Kindle, and the other half read a paperback of the same story. After all the participants finish reading, they are tested on their comprehension of the plot.
After the tests are graded, it is revealed that the Kindle readers performed remarkably worse. They specifically had trouble matching a list of events from the plot to the correct chronological order. However, the paperback readers report higher results because of measures like empathy, transportation, immersion and narrative coherence. They deliver more interest and sentiment towards the text, which aids them in understanding the plot and remembering the events in question.
In order to grasp the contents in any medium and genre of literature, readers should be able to sense improvement, progress and achievement as they move forward to the next paragraph or chapter. Unfortunately, e-books deprive readers of that ability. After analyzing the results of the Mangen research, it is established that even though a sense of touch is recreated, it is not tangible. When reading a print book, the increasing pile of pages on one side of a bound book and decrease on the other side allows readers to track their progress. The anticipation to continue reading heightens as each page is physically turned. Readers are unable to truly connect with the text on the Kindle e-reader.
Speaking of connection, the constant switch between two essential guiding tools and the reading material is painstaking in e-books, especially for heavier works such as textbooks and similar academic pieces. The table of contents and an index are two common tools in most forms of literature. The hassle of going back and forth between the two navigating elements and the reading seldom occurs in a hard copy. It is easier to mark one’s place in a book with a bookmark or finger.
Moreover, lack of user-friendliness immensely contributes to the decrease in e-book sales. Chandler Barton, editor-in-chief at Dawnbreaker Press, confirms this. He also admits that readers have a certain attachment to print. A reader’s connection to a book has a lot to do with its appearance inside and out. The creative use of white space on a page that a layout designer puts their heart and soul into enhances the reading experience. Neglecting such a crucial aspect and its various elements is criminal.
Readers should try cracking open a print book if they need visual therapy, or if it has been a while since they last read one.
