I have to agree with this article in The News Tribune. I find printed travel books much easier to use than any of their ebook equivalents. Nothing beats the ability to flip back and forth between pages.
From an article in The News Tribune:
Between 2008-2011, travel book publishers’ print revenues plunged from $190.3 million to $149 million, said Albert Greco, marketing professor at Fordham University, who monitors the book publishing industry. Last month, publisher John Wiley & Sons put its Frommer’s brand up for sale.
While some travel-watchers have predicted the demise of printed travel guides, using words like “extinction,” and “redundant,” that probably is too strong, Greco says. Although travel books are migrating to digital formats, real books continue to have a place in a traveler’s backpack. They can be toted where there is no electricity. Printed maps beat apps, especially for older eyes. Books don’t scream “rich tourist” like an e-reader does. Sometimes, flipping through a book is just easier.
Last year, 4,221 print books and 711 e-books about travel were published or distributed in the United States, according to preliminary data from Bowker Books in Print.
“Print continues to sag, but it continues to exist,” Greco says.
That is lucky for those who prefer to travel by the book.
I didn”t want to be one of those guys – I took the Wikitravel guides (indispensable!) and the Kindle editions of Lonely Planet with me on my last trip to Laos & Cambodia. On about day 10 I broke down, biked over to the market and bought a (surprisingly high quality) $3 photocopied Lonely planet. My life got much easier – It is partially the flip-through/dog ear interface, but also the maps of towns, which are totally useless on the Kindle edition (too small, split across multiple pages, blech!).
Loved having my Kindle for reading books, just not guide books.