Is Print Dead?

Ah, the ubiquitous question.  Will print books go the way of the 8-track, or see a fall like that of Betamax and more recently, VHS?  Will everyone own an eReader, and will libraries be filled with computers and eschew bookshelves?

I'd like to think not.  And I'll go beyond the whole "digital divide" argument. (Yes, I just linked to Wikipedia - it is not quite the evil behemoth that some make it out to be, but that's another post entirely!)  I can say with perfect clarity - and plenty of anecdotal evidence - that most of the students I see here on a daily basis want to read print, and will actually WAIT for a copy of a print book to be returned rather than turning to an online version of the same text.  I do need to qualify, though, that I am speaking only of books here, monographs, not journals and magazines and newspapers.  (Again, a whole other post.)

But more scientifically speaking, *statistically* it appears that younger adult readers, far more than 30 to 50-somethings, prefer the experience of reading a print book to a digital version.  In fact, the percentage of young readers (under 20) and the percentage of older adult readers (over 50) are about equal when asked their preference for digital vs print - 85% "prefer the experience of a printed book."  That blows away issues like cost concerns, privacy concerns, and digital restrictions by a huge margin. 

How do I garner this information?  From a study done by R. K. Bowker (specifically table 31 on page 39).  It was commissioned by an international organization which promotes reading - mysteries, specifically - designed to see where the market was headed for that genre.  But the one table I mention is very, very telling.  I would love to see a broader survey done that focuses more on print vs digital.  Mystery readers are often considered "old fashioned", so I wonder how sci-fi fans would respond, or folks who don't do much reading "for pleasure".  And if the sales of Nook and Kindle and all the others are spiking dramatically, why is that happening?  The ereader industry would have us believe that ebook sales are through the roof, and they are, but who is doing the buying?  And will that trend continue?  If the bulk of the buying follows the trend in the Bowker study, then as younger readers start having more disposable income (as they get older and get established in the workforce) will we start to see a decline in digital books and an uptick in print sales again?

Something interesting to ponder, and watch.