Abstract
This paper discusses the potential substitution of paper media with digital media from the perspective of usability and legibility through a comparison of the characteristics of digital media and paper media. Various media have been digitized throughout the progress of information technology. Therefore, it is important that digitized media be improved in terms of their usability and costs. Current paper media are not digitized and hence they have low usability, high costs, and poor display qualities. Recent digital media such as tablet PCs, e-books, and smartphones have been developed using advanced information technologies, and thus they may substitute for paper media. This study investigated digital media from three perspectives, i.e., their physical characteristics, screen display size, and screen resolution. Our investigation and analysis showed that paper media cannot be substituted with recent digital media in the near future. However, some digital media have noteworthy features that are comparable with paper media. These digital media features are their high-resolution screens, large screen size, and writable screens. In the near future, new products or services that focus on user experience will be developed by integrating digital media and paper media.
