Editor's note: According to the white paper on digital reading in 2019, released on April 23, about 470 million Chinese read on average nearly 15 digital books each last year. Has digital technology changed the way you read? Forum readers share their opinions.

pnp (China)

This undated photo shows customers reading e-books at a cafe in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province. (WANG LUXIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY)

If the objective is to promote reading, then e-books are just as good a paper books. Actually, e-books are far more convenient to read, as one does not have to lug around a heavy paper book, which is discarded once the contents are read, contributing to paper waste and not environmentally friendly! We used to carry wads of paper money to pay for this and that; today we hardly do that, we just swipe our cellphone. So also with reading, we don't need paper books, we just read online!

Liononthehunt (Australia)

People read in Qujiang Bookstore in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, which was selected as one of the most beautiful bookstores in 2018. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

You might be deemed as stodgy nowadays if you latch onto your paper books, but I am sure a lot of bibliophiles still enjoy the feel and smell of the books they could hold, browse, and thumb through... personally, I have nothing against Kindles, iPads as e-readers, but I also enjoy reading paper books, especially on board a short flight...

ceciliazhang (China)

Passengers are pictured in a subway train in Shenzhen city, South China's Guangdong province, June 26, 2017. (PHOTO / IC)

It depends on where I'm reading. I enjoy reading books at home but I prefer digital while riding the subway to work. I bought my Paperwhite a year ago and now I cannot live without it. It weighs less than a thin paperback book no matter how many books I stuff into it. They cost a lot less. Technology has changed the way we read. Embrace it.

dostoevskydr (China)

A Zhongshuge bookstore employee introduces a book through livestreaming in Shanghai earlier this month. (PHOTO BY NIU JING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

The simple fact is, there’s not really any need to choose between print and digital media these days. Not many people start reading e-books and turn their backs completely on their beloved, dog-eared paperbacks. It’s better to consider that both forms of content have their advantages and drawbacks so why not enjoy the best of both worlds?

markwu (Malaysia)

People experience e-books at Shanghai Book Fair in east China's Shanghai. (FANG ZHE / XINHUA)

E-books are weightless, can be easily uploaded, transmitted and downloaded, are searchable, and changeable from one file type to another, one print size to another, even one rotation to another. Yet they have two singular weaknesses. One, reading them burns the corneas over time, losing eyesight and thus much of life's jauntiness. Also, they are never the same as holding paper books in the hand, feeling the grain of the paper, remembering the smell of the print inks like those of yonder day Beano and Dandy paper comics.