The battle between digital and print isn’t new and isn’t close to being settled. When it comes to reading on paper versus reading digitally, there are more than two camps. This interesting topic came to us from The Digital Reader in their article, “Could the Future of Reading be Text Plus Audio?”
Many studies have been done and many contradicting results are constantly being used to reinforce one theory or the other. One study shows student have a higher reading comprehension with print. Another believes reading digitally can require less mental energy thus not exhausting the reader.
Personally, I live in both worlds. I resisted the e-readers for a long time because I liked the tactile aspect of reading. I liked the feel and the smell of books, especially old books. But convenience and a few cross-country airplane jaunts highlighted the lighter luggage benefit as well as compact purse portability of my Kindle. But I have not given up on the print. Occasionally, I will read a “real” book and I am almost always listening to an audio book in my vehicle during commutes. I don’t believe there has to be just one winner.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Data Harmony, a unit of Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.
