What are the pros and cons of digital reading vs paper reading? This is probably a question that anyone would rarely voice in these modern days of digital technology, but it is a question worth considering for many people.

Modern Society

We, as a modern society, have conditioned ourselves to available technology in every area of our lives and allowed reading gadgets to permeate and saturate our personal, family and work lives to such an extent that we have become a “soft” people, so to speak. What has happened to the paper reading days and how is it connected with the discussion of digital reading vs paper reading?

Gadgets and Devices

Look around you today. Check out your homes and offices. Digital readers are so prolific just about everywhere, and they exist in our lives in the form of ubiquitous devices like androids, tablets, iPhones, iPads, iPod touches, personal computers, macs, information monitors, kindles and so on and so forth. You cannot even escape them, while you are travelling in planes, trains, and buses. How does this contribute to the discussion regarding digital reading vs paper reading?

Digital Reading vs Paper Reading

Just up to, and probably as late as a generation ago, before the discovery of the first programmable computer in 1941-1942, paper reading was the only easy form or type of reading that existed. This was true until about 2007 to 2009 when the first Kindles and smartphones came into the commercial market. People started using these devices to read books digitally.

Today most middle aged and younger population in urban centers of the world for example, may have not handled a “paper” version of a newspaper as they can freely visit the newspaper’s website digitally and catch up with the news. This is an important aspect of the digital reading vs paper reading discussion.

Paper Reading Pros and Cons

The advantages of paper reading are:

• Less or no strain on the eyes as compared to digital reading.
• You need some external light to read physical paper.
• As per scientific research, your brain tends to remember more of what you have read on paper, as compared to digital reading.
• Light in weight.

The disadvantages of paper reading are:

• Bulky in size, to carry around.
• Topics to read are limited to what is printed on the paper you carry.
• Print newspapers leave ink residue on your fingers.

These are some brief points in the paper reading section of our digital reading vs paper reading discussion.

Digital Reading Pros and Cons

The advantages of digital reading are:

• Do not need any external light as you can read using the screen background light.
• Easier and convenient to carry your digital reading in modern devices.
• Can read any topic that is available if stored in your digital device memory or which is accessible on the internet, if your device is connectable to the internet.
• Easy to carry around in comparison to carrying several books.

The disadvantages of digital reading are:

• More strain on the eyes comparably, depending on the background color of the screen and foreground font color.
• Often much heavier to carry around than a paper.

These are some brief points in the digital reading section of our digital reading vs paper reading discussion.

Conclusion

Paper reading has been, and probably always will a part of our lives, but our digital world reality, along-with the way we depend on our digital devices today, implies that digital reading is here to stay, as an integral part of our lives.

Despite the pros and cons of digital reading vs paper reading we can conclude that both are here to stay with us, all throughout our personal, social, and professional lives.