Is there a difference in the way the brain takes in or absorbs information when it is presented electronically versus on paper? Does the reading experience change, from retention to comprehension, depending on the medium?

SHOOT: I'd much rather read a book on paper. But would I want to go to a store and buy it, or download it - I think the latter. On the other hand, which uses more resources - a book, or this thing made out of plastic and metal. At a guess I'd say the plastic metal thing uses more resources, including the brain, than the good old book. Here's an interesting quote from the article comparing books to cars:

David Gelernter, a professor of computer science at Yale University: They make the same mistake clever planners have made for half a century in forecasting the death of cars and their replacement by spiffier technology. The problem is, people like cars.

clipped from roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com Writing and reading — from newspapers to novels, academic reports to gossip magazines — are migrating ever faster to digital screens, like laptops, Kindles and cellphones. Traditional book publishers are putting out “vooks,” which place videos in electronic text that can be read online or on an iPhone. Others are republishing old books in electronic form. And libraries, responding to demand, are offering more e-books for download. Sandra Aamodt is a former editor in chief of Nature Neuroscience. She is co-author of “Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life.” Reading on screen requires slightly more effort and thus is more tiring, but the differences are small and probably matter only for difficult tasks.