Writer Edward Willett (@ewillett) asks, “Despite passion on the printed-book side, ebook sales continue to soar, and ebook readers are becoming better, cheaper, and more ubiquitous. How can a lover of text-on-dead-trees continue to defend his/her choice?”
Science may offer some ammunition in the ongoing debate. For instance, a study conducted last year by Jacob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group, a California-based usability consulting firm, tested three different ways to read e-books – on the PC, the Kindle 2, and the iPad – against the reading of paper books. Nielsen found that those reading any of the ebook versions were as much as 10% slower than those reading the printed versions. (Reading on the PC was the slowest — and least popular — of all.)
[Also see Singularity Hub’s (@singularityhub) “New Study: You Read Slower on Kindle, iPad than with Print.”]
[For a contrasting article, see TeleRead’s (@paulkbiba) “Jakob Nielsen’s e-reading speed study isn’t the final word].”
But “another study emerged from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz that, according to the lead researcher, Professor Dr. Stephan Füssel, provides a scientific basis ‘for dispelling the widespread misconception that reading from a screen has negative effects.’”
Perhaps, in the end, it all comes down to personal preference.
Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you set your publishing agenda while taking into account the personal preference of your consumers.