Editor’s Note: This is the second-half of a 2-part series on mobile e-readers. Click here to read part 1.

Yesterday I looked at e-publishing from the viewpoint of the publishers and the survival of their businesses. But what does e-publishing mean to readers? Is it good news or bad?

First, no one is talking about replacing anything with e-publishing. Time magazine is not going to stop its paper edition in favor of an all-electronic strategy any time soon, probably not in our lifetimes. The vast majority of its sales and subscriptions are still on paper, and while it certainly will see some net shift from paper to electronic (some people will prefer the publication on their iPads), many will want the paper edition, which has its own advantages. The same is true of books. Amazon’s broad claims of selling more copies of books as Kindle editions than on paper notwithstanding, 85% or more of book sales are still on paper. Certainly in recent years the industry has seen some erosion of paper and a matching increase in electronic sales, but that movement has been a few percentage points. And the evidence is that people want books on paper.

And specifically for my reader friends whose reaction to e-books is that they don’t replace the physical experience of a beautiful book, certainly no one is going to replace hardbacks, which, among other things, are a source of high profits for the publishers. If anything gets replaced, it will be “cheap” paperbacks. I don’t know anyone who will really miss the smell of the glue, yellowing paper, and broken bindings that are the physical experience of reading those. So overall this is an increase in choice for readers – hardback, paperback, or e-book, with the added benefit that often the e-book is less expensive.

It also means more books available, and specifically backlist books. My wife, for instance, is a fan of a well-known mystery writer but was never able to get his early books, which are long out of print. She used to search used book stores. Soon after I started reading books from eReader.com, I bought his entire backlist in electronic format and loaded it on a Palm PDA for her.

Personally, I prefer e-books, mostly because I find it easier to read on a backlit screen than on paper – except of course on the beach, where computer screens, including the iPad screen, wash out. But I own quite a few paper books that I have yet to read already, so that is not a big problem for me. And as for the infamous “how would you read an e-book in the bath” question: I prefer showers. And when I do get into a hot tub, I prefer to listen to podcasts or audiobooks on my iPod (in a waterproof case from www.Otterbox.com) rather than holding a book or computer of any kind.

I have other reasons for liking e-books. I can carry all of them – more than 300 – on a memory card. In contrast, more of my physical book library is in boxes in my basement than on shelves in my house. That is the problem with having a large library and a small home. And I never lose an e-book. In contrast more than once I have put a paper book down in my house and lost it for weeks, which can be annoying. And for me at least the reading experience is just about the same. I read mainly for pleasure and to learn. I like books because they provide a deep immersion into a subject which I cannot get elsewhere. I tend to read for long periods – often several hours at a time.

This may not be true for everybody, however. Studies and articles sometimes link e-books to increased reader distraction and lower comprehension of the material in the books. I think what is happening there may be that readers are jumping between the book and their e-mail, chat sessions, etc., basically “multitasking”, which is a recipe for decreased comprehension and quality of work in general. I will discuss this in a future blog.