随着智能手机和电子阅读器的日益普及,一些人担心纸质书的时代即将结束。但近期的一项调查显示,传统书籍在读者中依然大受欢迎。
Industry research company Nielsen found that 7 percent more paper books were sold in the UK in 2016 compared to the previous year, while sales of their digital rivals declined (下降) by 4 percent. It was the second year in a row that e-book sales have fallen, according to the report released last month.
行业调研公司尼尔森发现,和前一年相比,2016年英国纸质书的销量上涨了7,而电子书的销量却下跌了4。上月发布的这份报告显示,电子书的销量已经连续第二年下跌。
So what is behind 2016’s print comeback?
所以2016年纸质书回温的背后到底是什么呢?
Nielsen’s survey, surprisingly, found that it is young people who preferred physical books to e-reader versions.
尼尔森公司的调查令人惊讶地发现,正是年轻人更加喜欢纸质书,而非电子书。
In another study conducted in 2013 by the youth research agency Voxburner in the UK, more than 60 percent of 16-to-24-year-olds said they preferred print books to e-books. The most popular reason given was: “I like to hold the product.”
英国青年调研机构Voxburner于2013年发布的另一项研究也发现,60以上的16-24岁的年轻人表示,比起电子书,自己更喜欢纸质书。他们给出最多的理由是:“我喜欢拿着书的感觉。”
Steve Bohme, research director at Nielsen Book Research UK, explained that young people were using books as a break from their daily connections to electronic devices (设备) and social media. “We are seeing that books are a respite (缓解), particularly for young people who are so busy digitally,” he told The Guardian.
英国尼尔森图书调查公司的调研总监史蒂夫·伯麦表示,年轻人通过阅读书籍从他们日常使用的电子设备和社交媒体中获得休息。“我们看到,书籍成为了一种缓解方式,尤其是对那些终日埋头于电子产品的年轻人而言,”他在接受《卫报》采访时表示。
And it is not just UK youth who prefer print books. The story is the same in other countries.
不仅仅是英国年轻人喜欢纸质书,其他国家的年轻人也是如此。
According to a study by American University linguistics (语言学) professor Naomi S. Baron, 92 percent of college students preferred paper books instead of e-books. In 2010 and 2013, Baron led a team that asked more than 420 university students from the United States, Slovakia, Japan and Germany how they preferred to read.
据美国大学语言学教授娜奥米·S·巴伦的研究显示,92的大学生更喜欢纸质书而非电子书。在2010和2013年,巴伦带着一个研究小队,就更喜欢哪种阅读方式这一问题调查了来自美国、斯洛伐克、日本以及德国的420名大学生。
The main reasons were that when reading e-books, students are easily distracted. Some also ended up with headaches or sore eyes.
(学生们更喜欢纸质书的)的主要原因是,阅读电子书时,他们很容易分心。一些人事后甚至会感到头痛和眼睛酸涩。
In addition, print books can bring a very different reading experience.
而纸质书却能带来全然不同的阅读体验。
Slovakian students in particular said that they liked the smell of books when reading a hard copy. Other students said that they get a sense of accomplishment when they finish reading a paper book and they enjoy seeing it on the bookshelf.
斯洛伐克学生尤其表示,在读纸质书籍时,他们很喜欢书本的味道。而其他学生则称,当自己读完一本纸质书时,会有一种成就感,而且他们也很高兴能在书架上看见那本书。
“There really is a physical, tactile (触觉的) ... component to reading,” Baron told the New Republic.
“这的确是阅读在肢体上与触觉上的一个组成部分,”巴伦在接受《新共和》杂志采访时表示。
While e-book sales have declined, Bohme pointed out that it was still
尽管电子书的销量有所下降,但伯麦却指出,电子书在英国的销量依然比五年前要高,这一点不容忽视。
Bohme told The Guardian that e-book sales would continue to decline this year as industry confidence in traditional books increases. “If we have a couple of years of that success story, print sales will keep going up,” he said.
伯麦向《卫报》表示,今年电子书的销量还会持续下滑,因为业内对传统书籍的信心增加了。“如果这种成功持续几年,纸质书的销量将会不断上升,”他说道。