But as a recent survey showed, traditional books are still popular among readers.
The number of people subscribing to newspapers may be shrinking as they flock to the Internet, but electronic book readers will not shred the market for ink, paper, glue and binding anytime soon.
7 percent more paper books were sold in the UK in 2016 compared to the previous year, while sales of their digital rivals declined by 4 percent. It was the second year in a row that e-book sales have fallen.
The survey, surprisingly, found that it is young people who preferred physical books to e-reader versions. And it is not just UK youth who prefer print books. The story is the same in other countries. The main reasons were that when reading e-books, students are easily distracted. Some also ended up with headaches or sore eyes. In addition, print books can bring a very different reading experience.
Readers like the smell of books when reading a hard copy. They get a sense of accomplishment when they finish reading a paper book and they enjoy seeing it on the bookshelf.