Paper or e-reads for you?

[rapa]

http://www.treehugger.com/culture/paper-or-e-book-americans-still-p...

I'm definitely a paper reader. Only do KIndle when traveling. Never do audio but would if no other way to get my stories! How 'bout you?

[Joanne]

I'm a Paper, You're a Paper, Wouldn't you like to be a Paper too!  (Who will remember this?)

I do read on my Kindles (have old one and HDX Fire). Probably never get all the books on there read.

[Lyn]

I read on both, but I tend to enjoy the kindle best.  I read "The Art of a Jewish Woman" on the kindle and then watched her being interviewed in person.........made the book all that much more real, human, touching.

[Lip Service]

I used to be a paper reader, I loved the feel, smell and physical handling of a book. However, the kindle offers many advantages: adjusting the size of the font, the ability to read in the dark without extra light. But the most important feature is that I long ago ran out of shelf space for books but the kindle can hold hundreds of books without a problem

There are also other advantages such as looking up unfamiliar words and following up links to the internet from inside a book's footnote or comment

[Gloria Helmer / Datsunlvr]

Though I love reading paper, I sell more e-books than print ones. Must be a lot more out there that have switched over. LOL!

[Glenda Scheideler]

I am a devout audio "reader" and only pick up books (usually Kindle) when I'm pressed into it by a book club selection.  I am still working and on the road 2 1/2 hours a day.  It keeps me sane -- I also HATE housework and find that my headset will keep me rolling when I don't want to do something.  I also enjoy it when I'm working in the garden - it's much more inspirational than weeds.  I usually have a couple of things going on my kindle for those times I am stuck in a waiting room.  One more point for audio - if you share your bedroom with someone who cannot bear to have a light on, I just plug in and keep listening.

[Eaglewoman]

I have 2 Nooks, there is no way in my small apt. that I would have room for all the books I have on them.

Like thet I can read in bed with out the light on.

[Carolyn Tewell]

From our community newspaper earlier this month:

Paper may be bad for trees, but it is good for us...Tal Gross

I am an anomaly among university faculty: Instead of Power Point, I give my students paper handouts and ask them to take notes by hand.

Paper can help us think. Working on paper can make us more productive, receptive and attentive. Researchers in Norway randomly assigned 72 students to read either a passage on paper or read it on a computer screen. Those who read it on paper scored much better on a comprehension test of the passage. Another experiment found that students who take notes on paper learn more from lectures than those who take notes on a laptop.

Several other studies were listed all pointing to actual work with paper and the positive outcomes.

Yes, paper has a cost, and we should take the consequences of our actions seriously. But we make decisions beaded not only on costs but also on benefits. And an old fashioned world with pen and paper brings along enormous benefits. (He states this while Standing at the Xerox machine to print page after page for my students)

Tal Gross is assistant professor of health policy at Columbia.