Quote:
Originally Posted by Skip Wyona
I agree that fiction seems better for the e-book format. Non-fiction on an e-book reader is difficult for me. I wondered about that for a while until I came across some research studies that concluded that the tactile process of turning pages, going back over pages, marking text with your finger as you read, etc, of paper based books are all memory retention aids. The conclusions were that you remember more of what you read if you use a paper-based book, or, alternately, take notes while you read using any other reading format. I understand that retention is not necessarily all that important for fiction unless you need to review, analyze or report about what you have read. I also assume that reading modalities vary from individual to individual. Personally, I am a visual learning and I have observed that I get more out of paper-based books than other formats. I am worst at retention of material presented in audio such as audiobooks. Similar research has confirmed these differences in retention between textbook learning and computer learning. This is why I will always prefer paper-based material. I am a big user of electronically formatted material but I consider it a supplement, not a substitute, for paper-based books.  |
ITA with this post. For non-fiction, it's just better for me to have a paper book because of the memory retention aids you mentioned. I have read some non-fiction on an e-reader and the experience just isn't the same. I like to mark up my book and flip back and forth between pages. That's just very hard to do on an e-reader at the moment.
Now for fiction and maybe some non-fiction that doesn't engage me too much, e-books work very well for me. In fact, I prefer e-books for my fiction.