Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

The Internet has killed CDs and newspapers… but not books

Published Nov 28th, 2013 7:00PM EST
eBooks Versus Printed Books Survey

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Given what digital media options have done to CDs and newspapers, you probably assumed that the rise of eReaders such as Kindle and Nook would be doing the same thing to printed books… but you’d be wrong. Per The Guardian, a new survey of people between the ages of 16 to 24 shows that 62% of young adults prefer reading printed books over eBooks.

The survey, which was conducted by youth marketing research firm Voxburner, found that many young people think printed books deliver more value than eBooks and that they have more of an emotional attachment to printed books than eBooks. Voxburner’s Luke Mitchell tells The Guardian that, unlike CDs or newspapers, “books are status symbols” that people use to show off their reading tastes. eReaders, on the other hand, don’t give young people the same intellectual bragging rights.

“You can’t really see what someone has read on their Kindle,” explains Mitchell.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.