Kindle versus paper books, ceteris paribus?

The researchers suggest that "the haptic and tactile feedback of a Kindle does not provide the same support for mental reconstruction of a story as a print pocket book does".

That is from an article by Alison Flood at The Guardian shared in Marginal Revolution. 

There is a minor point I would like to make, from a limited perspective. When comparing books and e-books, like Kindle-books, for example, we might be comparing different products. Let me tell what I mean. In several occasions I have bought Kindle books from rural areas in Guatemala. That means that from, lets say, Sipacapa, San Marcos, in the highlands (and that is far away from the capital) one can have in a matter of seconds a recent book from Amazon, for example, that might not be even available in bookstores in Guatemala City. Getting the same book in hard copy might take more time, may be weeks, and one might have to go to the customs office. So, basically, one can buy two or more e-books for the same amount of money that buys one book. Price differences probably exist as well even if one buys from a developed country. Frequently, having a Kindle e-book is, of course, better that not having the book at all. 

Wikimedia Commons

If other things are equal probably books are better that e-books, but things are not equal in the "real world." 

The Effects of eBooks on Reading Outcomes

Education technology is proliferating. However, little evidence shows that technology actually raises student achievement. In this paper, we examine the impact of one such technology, the Kindle e-reader, on reading outcomes in a middle school classroom in Boston. In particular, we conduct a randomized pilot study with 57 students. We evaluate a 10-week reading enrichment program, in which students received Kindle e-readers as well as twice-a-week after-school mentorship. Our estimates suggest that e-readers more than double out-of-school reading hours for males, with an increase in reading of 143.3 percent, and no significant effect for females. This effect translates into large but insignificant effects on test scores. These pilot results indicate that more evidence on e-readers might show large effects on reading behavior and test scores for certain low-income subgroups.

The paper is by Noam Angrist. And, from the conclusions:

Effects further tend to diminish once students no longer have access to the mentorship component of the program, as well as decreased book subsides and increased Internet distractions.