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Walking through Costco, there is a book section, some people browsing. Are they just bored waiting for someone or do people still read books today? I loved paper books as a kid, audio books later, now computer simulations of books. Books take up space so download it to the computer and delete when bored or done. I read an actual paper library book maybe once a year, here we have virtual rentals that expire like paper books so why drive a car for miles? Back and forth, waste of time.
Back to the question of better learning through paper books or ebooks: Something that probably affects learning is the fact that people have been reading and writing paper documents for centuries. Brains might have evolved with this “technology.”
Evolution can’t keep up with tech changes now. Maybe the (allegedly better) depth and durability of learning from paper docs is a product of generations having worked with nothing but those, until recently.
Kids in school though get laptops and their text books are the online versions.
So that evolution is happening.
Paper for me. I have a bunch of books from classics to freebies loaded onto this iPad I’m holding, but I just don’t care for reading books on this device.
I read only paper books. Did try to read a very old, out of print travel chronicle because it was available (only) online, but found reading a book from a screen so unnatural that I couldn't even finish that one book let alone consider ever repeating the experience :-).
I learned how to read very early (my native language is not English, it is a phonetic language in which I think it is easier to learn how to read when very small). My parents say that I learned how to talk and read at about the same time, and I myself never had a memory of NOT knowing how to read. Maybe for that reason, because reading a paper book got wired into my brain so early, words written on paper are entirely alive to me, and completely transport me into a virtual reality of a book. I cannot achieve that by reading from a screen.
I also don't remember a time when I couldn't read. My native language is American English. I think probably my big advantage is that I had an older sister who was cued, by one of my grandmas, that she needed to be 'my little mother' (my parents were both good but flawed people). And I suspect she taught me the fundamentals of reading.
I have struggled to read books in PDF format on a computer screen. That experience is way different from reading a book. But I was motivated to read them . . . they were written by ancestors of DH who were well-regarded contemporaries of Jane Austin, except they wrote much more locally-based books. And they wrote well.*
So I recognize the difference between reading a computer/tablet screen vs. reading a dedicated e-book reader. Even so, I think I'll always luxuriate in the experience of holding a paper book in my hands.
(Mainly paperback. Hard cover books are physically more demanding to handle, and I am comfortable with paperback books.)
*The Findlater sisters. Scottish. Look 'em up on the Gutenburg project, if you're curious.
Yes. I read actual paper books. Never used any electronics to read. I read during the day when I have time but night time is my time to take my book and lay down. It's my sleep aid. I buy books from Amazon, Thrift Books and when necessary visit my local library. I love paper books, hard cover or paperbacks.
I read on both formats, though more often now digitally. I’m a life-long reader, English major, (retired) English teacher, etc. What I don’t understand is the defensiveness, the passion, really, of those responding that they ONLY read paper. “My book never never needs a new battery,” etc. Ummm, OK.
Yes. Right now I'm reading The Obesity Code. Hard to curl up with a tablet.
It's not hard to curl up with my Kindle.
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