The Internet Is Forever. So Why Do We Still Love Paper?
Released Date: 23rd, October, 2026
We can carry thousands of books in our pockets, generate images in seconds, and publish our thoughts to the world with a single click. So why do we still make things you can hold?
Let's start with a confession: we love the internet.
It makes ideas travel. It helps independent artists find audiences across the world. It gives small publishers new ways to reach readers, and lets creative projects find supporters who might never have discovered them otherwise.
But we also love paper. The weight of a book in your hands. The slight resistance of a page turning. The way ink sits on an uncoated surface, or how a beautifully made book can make you pause before you even begin to read.
In a world where almost anything can become a file, we still care about things that exist beyond a screen.
Why?
The Numbers Tell an Interesting Story
Digital reading isn't going away—and it shouldn't.
According to Pew Research Center's April 2026 report, based on a survey of U.S. adults conducted in October 2025, 64% had read a print book in the previous 12 months. Meanwhile, 31% had read an e-book and 26% had listened to an audiobook.
Compare that with 2011, when 72% reported reading a print book and 17% an e-book. Digital reading has grown, while print reading has declined modestly. The formats are increasingly part of the same reading culture.
The publishing business tells a similar story.
The Association of American Publishers estimated that U.S. publishing revenue reached $33.4 billion in 2025. Print formats accounted for 50.6% of total publishing revenue across the categories covered by the report. Within consumer trade publishing, print formats accounted for 76.3% of revenue.
In other words, digital has become an essential part of publishing, but physical books remain a major part of its commercial foundation.
These numbers don't prove that print is better. They tell us something more interesting: even when digital alternatives are readily available, physical books continue to serve a purpose.
A Book Is More Than Its Words
Imagine two editions of the same illustrated book.
One lives on your tablet. It is portable, searchable, convenient, and always within reach.
The other has a textured cover, carefully selected paper, generous margins, and illustrations that unfold across the spread. Its binding affects how it opens. Its size changes how you experience the artwork. Even the act of turning a page creates a rhythm.
Both editions contain the same story. But they don't necessarily create the same experience.
Research into reading practices has found that print and digital reading involve different material conditions and habits. One study combining a laboratory experiment, focus groups, and an online survey found that the two formats serve different functions and often complement rather than replace each other.
A separate experiment comparing reading a story in print and on a Kindle found broadly similar comprehension on most measures, but an advantage for print readers on certain tasks involving the chronology and location of events in the story.
We should be careful not to turn these findings into a universal claim that paper is always better. Reading outcomes depend on the reader, the text, and the task.
But there is a point worth considering: the physical form of a book is not merely a container for words. It can influence how we navigate, perceive, and experience them.
The Pleasure of Making Something Real
Physicality matters beyond reading.
An artist's book can be a work of art in its own right. A photography book can use paper and scale to shape the way images are seen. A small independent publication can bring together illustrations, handwritten notes, unusual folds, and experimental binding. A printed object can be passed between people, displayed on a shelf, annotated, gifted, and kept for years.
None of this makes physical objects automatically meaningful. A beautifully printed book with nothing to say is still a book with nothing to say.
But when the idea deserves it, materials can become part of the idea.
A rough paper stock might reinforce the rawness of a project. A fold-out page might reveal information in a particular sequence. A restrained cover might give the artwork inside room to breathe. A carefully engineered box might turn a collection of separate pieces into one coherent experience.
The creative decisions don't end when the writing or illustration is finished. Sometimes, that's where another stage of the work begins.
More Content Doesn't Necessarily Mean More Meaning
We live in an era of extraordinary creative access.
A person can learn new skills online, experiment with digital tools, publish independently, and reach an audience without first passing through traditional gatekeepers. These are real gains, and they deserve to be celebrated.
At the same time, the sheer volume of material available to us makes attention increasingly precious. When another image, article, or video is always one scroll away, what makes us stop? What makes us return? What makes something worth keeping?
The answer isn't always craftsmanship, and it certainly isn't price. Sometimes it is a powerful idea, a distinctive voice, a personal connection, or a piece of work that arrives at exactly the right moment.
Physical production cannot manufacture those qualities. But it can help creators express them.
The point isn't to print everything. It's to recognize when a physical format adds something meaningful—and to give that choice the same thought we give the content itself.
A Note of Appreciation for the People Who Make Things
Behind every book, art print, independent publication, or carefully designed object, there are people making hundreds of decisions that readers may never notice.
Writers finding the right words. Illustrators refining a line. Designers adjusting a composition by a few millimeters. Publishers taking a chance on an unfamiliar voice. Editors helping an idea become clearer. Bookbinders, printers, and production teams figuring out how to turn a concept into something that works in the real world.
Creative work is rarely effortless. And its value cannot always be measured by the time it takes to make, the number of views it receives, or the cost of the materials.
We believe creators and publishers deserve more than a choice between making something cheaply and making something beautifully. They deserve production partners who listen, understand the intention behind a project, and help translate that intention into a finished object.
Not every project needs premium paper or elaborate finishing. Sometimes the smartest creative decision is to keep things simple. What matters is that the decisions are made for the work—not just for the production line.
Where Seal Lab Comes In
At Seal Lab, we work at the point where creative ideas meet physical production.
We are a creative production studio working with books, custom packaging, printed goods, and collectible projects. We collaborate with publishers, authors, illustrators, independent creators, and brands to explore how an idea can take shape in a physical format.
That might mean helping an artist develop a distinctive book, working through the details of a custom box, or finding a practical way to bring a multi-piece creative project together.
We care about the details because details change the experience: how a cover feels, how a page opens, how colors translate onto paper, how separate elements fit together, and how the finished object reflects the original idea.
We don't believe everything needs to be printed. We believe that when a project deserves a physical form, that form deserves to be considered carefully.
The internet helps ideas travel further. We want to help some of those ideas become things people can hold.
So, What Is Worth Making?
Perhaps the future isn't a contest between paper and pixels.
Digital tools help ideas travel, evolve, and reach new audiences. Physical objects offer other possibilities for experiencing, sharing, and keeping those ideas. The most interesting creative projects may be the ones that understand what each medium does best.
So here's our question for you:
In a world where almost anything can be created and shared digitally, what makes something worth making physical?
Is it the experience, the craftsmanship, the emotional connection, the ability to collect and preserve it—or something else entirely?
We'd love to hear what you think.
Sources & Further Reading
Pew Research Center — “Americans Still Opt for Print Books Over Digital or Audio Versions,” April 9, 2026.
Association of American Publishers — “AAP StatShot Annual Report: Publishing Revenues Totaled $33.4 Billion for Calendar Year 2025,” August 10, 2026.
“Books on Screen: Empirical Results on Reading Experiences and Reading Practices with Digitized Literature,” 2023.
Anne Mangen, Gérard Olivier and Jean-Luc Velay — “Comparing Comprehension of a Long Text Read in Print Book and on Kindle,” Frontiers in Psychology, 2019.
About Seal Lab
Seal Lab is a creative production studio focused on books, custom packaging, and printed goods. We work with creative people and brands to bring ideas into the physical world.
Have a project in mind? Let's talk.
hello@seallabprint.com