In a surprise to no one, Gen Z prefers printed books over e-books.
Not surprisingly, people still prefer printed books to e-books. And by people I mean Generation Z, that unfortunate cohort coming of age in the midst of mass shootings, ascendant authoritarianism, and mass environmental calamity.
Citing reasons like eye-strain, digital detoxification, BookTok, and new book smell (seriously, right?), an overwhelming percentage of readers born between 1997 and 2015 prefer old fashioned paper books. According to the World Economic Forum:
For UK book buyers ages 13 to 24, print books were the most popular way to read between November 2021 and November 2022, as they accounted for 80% of purchases, research from Nielsen BookData found.
This is surely the last data point in the coffin for anyone still harboring dreams of an ebook revolution. Paper books are an incredibly efficient technology for the transfer of thought, and for Gen Z’ers inheriting a world on fire, they might one day be the only reliable system for storing knowledge…
