Ben Stroup

The digital publishing revolution is no more going to eliminate books than the music publishing revolution eliminated music. Personally, I buy more music now than I did before I owned an iPod, and I buy more books now than I did before I owned my iPhone and iPad.

But maybe I’m just wierd.

And then I see a tweet from Tom Peters that suggests my experience is at least shared by one other person on this planet:

Even better, research shows that people are reading more books due to the proliferation of the eReaders, Tablet PC, Smartphone, etc.

According to Harris Interactive:

Overall, 16% of Americans read between 11 and 20 books a year with one in five reading 21 or more books in a year (20%). But, among those who have an eReader, one-third read 11-20 books a year (32%) and over one-quarter read 21 or more books in an average year (27%).

So why all the fuss from purists that digital publishing is going to kill books? I think it has less to do with the fear of the extinction of books as it is a reaction to a shift in personal preference. Just because I’d rather build a digital library than buy more bookshelves to fill with printed books doesn’t make me any less of a reader or book lover than those with rooms full of books.

I love books. I buy A LOT of books. More than I should probably. Certainly more than I have time to read. But buying digital books is so simple. I just can’t help myself.

At least from my perspective, digital publishing won’t kill books. It may—in fact—be the very channel that propells publishing forward—profitably.

Do you buy digital books? How are your purchasing habits different digitally than in print?

Ben Stroup is a content activist in a post-paragraph world. He is chief broker of opportunity at Ben Stroup Enterprises. Connect with Ben via email, Twitter, and Google+. Subscribe via email to learn how to use content to move people to action.