Will e-books and e-readers eradicate the existence of print books? For now, it seems like the answer is “no.”
The New York Times reports that some surveys have shown that younger readers favor reading from a print book versus an e-reading device. In recent years, the sales of digital books and e-readers have been slowly declining. This trend has also affected e-book subscription services; just this week the executives at Oyster have announced the company’s impending shut down.
Here’s more from the article: “E-book sales fell by 10 percent in the first five months of this year, according to the Association of American Publishers, which collects data from nearly 1,200 publishers. Digital books accounted last year for around 20 percent of the market, roughly the same as they did a few years ago. E-books’ declining popularity may signal that publishing, while not immune to technological upheaval, will weather the tidal wave of digital technology better than other forms of media, like music and television.”