Larry D. Lauer

Last spring I taught a graduate seminar on integrated marketing communication (IMC) and I asked the students about their reading habits in this new media world. They all said they still prefer printed books!  I was surprised.

But the responses I get about the future of books in my interviews of students and adults vary significantly. Some do agree that they still prefer printed books. Others, however, have made the complete transition to e-books.  Still others point out the limitations of moving back and forth in e-books in order to clarify or review specific points. Or they say underlining sentences and making margin notes is just too difficult, even though doing these is possible on most devices.  Of course, a few still flatly state that the book will be dead soon, and a few others admit they download e-books for travel and find themselves buying the hard copy too!    One literature scholar admitted she really likes leisurely reading fiction on e-books, but her professional reading still requires her to “work though a real book.”

Most publishers produce both e-books and printed books, and are very pleased to find that many customers will purchase both versions. I am afraid I am one of those people!  But e-books are less expensive to produce, require no warehouse storage, and are easy to download. They are also usually less expensive for the reader too. And the ease of purchase can result in more frequent sales.  As a result, I am told that many narrow market publishers are considering going exclusively to e-books. Only time will tell.

Libraries are going more and more digital every day too. Storage problems are better solved, searching is simplified, and acquisitions are generally less expensive. Institutions that are crammed with rows and rows and floors and floors of stacks can now be computerized learning centers with small group and team work areas, as well as furnished open areas for studying and thinking in comfort. Where total silence used to be required, now these electronic learning centers are becoming gathering places for the exploration and sharing of ideas.

In my honors class about media revolutions we remind ourselves every week that no medium ever completely goes away, but roles and uses certainly do change. So what will be the ultimate consequences of the changing role of books?  Is anything lost by converting to e-books?  Or, will a balance of  electronic and printed books be the final outcome?  Will people read less, or more?  And what about print publications in general?  Which uses will go electronic, and which will not?  One thing for sure, this media revolution is not over yet!