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Originally Posted by MattW
So? Why do we automatically judge the surveys whose results we don't agree with personally as suspect?
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All studies are suspect until found to be otherwise. That's how science works.
It's fairly clear to me from the way the results are worded [1] that the people choosing paper were overwhelmingly paper fetishists. Not people who have both an ereader and paper books, and are making a considered choice to eschew their ereader whilst on holiday, for particular reasons related to the compatibility of holidaying and ereading.
I also wonder where and how exactly this survey was conducted - was it from a booth in the WH Smith store they're advertising in this press release? Somewhere else? How was the sample chosen? How many declined participation? Again, basic science.
The results are also presented misleadingly when it comes to recommendations. The writer of the release says:
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Digital doesn’t fare well when it comes to suggestions of what books to bring either.
Of the 2,000 people surveyed, 67% said they turn to friends and family for their reading recommendations, closely followed by librarians and book-sellers (22%). Auto-generated online suggestions were found to be least helpful – 33% felt that the recommendations were too stereotyped, and 15% argued that they were just plain dull.
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What has any of that to do with ebooks vs pbooks? I get the vast majority of my ebook recs from my friends, offline and online. Auto-generated recommendations apply to both ebooks and pbooks, too. The conclusion, fuzzy as it is, doesn't follow from the data.
[1] ("67% said they prefer to stick with print because they enjoy the feel of a real book in their hands.")