When I was catching up on my readings for LIB 3040 during my commute today, I realized that I am two of about 15 people on the train reading a physical book. The rest of the commuters were either reading on their phone or on a Kindle-like device. I also own a Kindle and a phone filled with ebooks. However, I still prefer reading a physical book because of the physical pages that I may flip and the fact that I may store the book in my bookcase after I finish it. With ebooks, may I “file” it away? In fact, do I really “own” the ebook?
Applying this concept to a broader perspective, it seems to me like the trend is gravitating toward rentals, and less of ownership. Think of how we stream music/movies through Spotify or YouTube and rent textbooks through Chegg. Outside of academics, think of car rentals through companies like Hertz and digital magazine subscriptions through Bloomberg. Do you think this is a growning trend among the generation today? If so, why do you think people prefer this new way of accessing the goods/services they need?
I love reading from an actual physical book too! The flipping of the pages and looking at my progress is exciting and relaxing at the same time. But sometimes, it’s just easier on the wallet and more convenient to bring around. I won’t deny it, I read the class book on my phone… I have my phone with me almost everywhere I go. I can just pull it out anywhere and start reading.
I think people prefer not to own the actual thing unless they have a passion for the certain item. If I need a textbook for a class, I wouldn’t want to own it and keep it forever. I’d rather get a pdf or rent it/sell it back. But if I have an interest for it, I’d keep it.
This is definitely a growing trend. It’s all about convenience and price nowadays. I would rather bring my iPad to school than a textbook because an iPad/phone is way more portable (and obviously has more functions). Ebooks, or rental in general, are also relatively inexpensive so that’s another reason why people would gravitate toward it.
I always preferred the physical book as well but that is a lot of money spent on books. I have a tablet as well and it is not as great as a physical book but it is a good substitute. You can have multiple books on your tablet and it makes it easier for you to read anytime you want. I mainly use it for textbooks and i find it easier because I can have all the textbooks i need in one place and it’s not heavy. Also with things like textbook we usually don’t need it after one semester so I would rather not have a physical copy.
TO OWN. Definitely. I personally love books. I love flipping through them and store them on my bookcase like some sort of pride. However I also buy books, and strongly urge others, in order to save publishing industry. Computerizations take away jobs from a lot of people. almost every industry is at least threatened by advancing technology or already altered by it. what would happen to all the libraries and librarians who work there if everybody stopped buying books? all the artist who work on designs? books are forms of art. and what about the rest of us? what would happen to our future history? would everything be in digital format somewhere on the web with no physical proof? in that case somebody malicious could alter our history for future generations. people need to stop trying to digitalize everything. it is a two edged sward.
In short, yes I absolutely think this is a growing trend among our generation, culture, and society today. And I think two of the main reasons are that
1) People are being satisfied more with the FUNCTIONALITY of things rather than the prospect of fully owning them, and
2) The uptick in technology which has greatly enhanced download and streaming speeds (ie. 4G) has finally made this method more feasible, and its availability as an option has obviously gained traction
… surely there are other reasons also, like financial feasibility (being able to access a whole catalog of music from, say, Spotify for like $10 a month until you don’t want it anymore, as opposed to the notion of buying every single song which would cost a fortune), but I think the top 2 are the ultimate reasons behind this shift.
Me personally, in regards to e-books, I enjoy a real physical book to handle in comparison. It’s easier to flip through the pages, you have more control, it’s easier to highlight, etc. BUT the ease of keeping virtually all the books I need on one device (my iPad) supersedes my preferences on using real books over e-books. I mean look at it for school. I have Here Comes Everybody, Human Rescource Management, and Strategic Management all on my iPad. If I had to lug around all those texts every week, it would be extremely uncomfortable. Much more to me than, say, having to flip through an e-book. So for me, the degree of comfort offered (or lack of discomfort in this respect) is the driving force between using an e-book or physical book. In terms of rentals, it just depends on if I care enough to have the book long term. If I don’t, I rent. If I do, I buy. Simple as that.
I’d say it’s a trend for us as we like to keep pace with the technology. Of course, price and convenience are two good reasons of why people might want to read ebooks. I personally prefer reading printed versions of anything. Staring at the screen for hours makes my eyes uncomfortable. I prefer comfort to convenience and therefore, avoid reading on devices.
I noticed that most people are on their iPad or smartphone during their daily commute since it is so convenient to have and do multiple things on one device. Personally I don’t like the idea of rentals because if I am going to pay for something I want to own it. Rentals allow for convenience and ease of the goods/services, so this is why people prefer to go digital. When it comes to textbooks, it would make sense to have it all on one device instead of lugging around a bunch of heavy textbooks. However, I prefer to read textbooks for class from a print copy instead of an e-book since I already spend so much time in front of the screen, and I don’t have to worry about it draining the battery on my device. There is less value placed on ownership nowadays of physical material. I’d say if it’s something disposable such as a monthly magazine subscription it is not a problem, but something of value to you should be kept in its physical form that you have ownership of and can hold on to. When it comes to music, people don’t really buy CDs anymore and just buy it online through iTunes or stream it. This ease of accessibility may degrade the value of the work as opposed to owning the tangible property.