People reading with e-books is becoming a more common sight, but print books don’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
That’s the conclusion from Pew’s latest Internet & American Life survey, which shows that a majority of readers — including those aged 18-to-29 — have yet to make the switch to e-books.
About 28 percent of American adults read at least one e-book last year, up from 23 percent in 2012. Nearly 70 percent say they read a print book, which is actually up four percent from 2012, and 76 percent said they read at least one book in total (either format) last year.
Meanwhile, only four percent of readers are “e-book only,” while 35 percent of people read both a print and e-book last year. Among those aged 18-to-29, 37 percent read at least one e-book — the highest percentage for all age groups — but 73 percent read a print book, which was also the highest percentage out of all age groups.
Speaking of the younger population, another study we wrote about earlier this week indicated that 67 percent of children now read with e-books.
While e-book reading isn’t quite mainstream yet, the number of people who own e-book reading devices did increase from 24 percent in September 2013 to 32 percent this month. Pew also noted that 42 percent of Americans now own tablets, which is up from 35 percent just a few months ago. Overall, 50 percent of people have an e-reading device, up from 42 percent in September.
The study was based on answers from 1,005 Americans surveyed Jan. 2 to Jan. 5 of this year. Check out Pew’s other recent studies here:
