Literature Ebooks Vs Paper books

RascalsMom

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What are your thoughts?

I've always been an avid reader. When e-readers first started coming out, I was intrigued but ignored them for the most part. I love paper books - the smell, the feel, they're just extremely comforting.

In late 2010 I broke down and got a kindle, and instantly fell in love! I could have almost ANY book downloaded with in seconds! I could carry thousands of books with me anywhere! It was so small and light, and only needed one hand to hold!

This lasted about a year, and then I drifted back to paper books. I still have my kindle and love the convenience and will probably use it again, but I just love paper books! I guess because I've always been a huge reader, they're just familiar and comforting.

I buy all my books used, and give away or trade them in when I am done reading - so I don't worry as much about environmental issues compared to if I was buying new books constantly. Just wondering where other readers stand!
 
The book lover in me loves the physicality of it - holding the book, SMELLING the book, there's something really cool about used books and then cracking open a brand new one, too. About 90% of my books are used.
But the minimalist in me, loves the idea of less clutter and being gadgety having tons of books in one small space, like the kindle/ipad/whatever.
I have whittled away at my book collection over the years; mostly keeping ones that I know would never be digitized as well as keeping photography books. I haven't gotten rid of a few of my favorite "new" ones because I don't have a kindle/ipad/whatever and still don't know that I would get rid of them. Maybe if I had to move or something.
 
I don't buy many books anymore. Pretty much everything I read is checked out from the library, or occasionally borrowed from a friend or relative.

I was disappointed when my public library discontinued it's digital lending program last year, as I had intended to purchase a Kindle just so I could borrow e-books. Now I have an iPad, and I love the convenience of reading my magazine subscription on it, rather than the print copy. (When I renew, I might get just the digital version.) There is a state library that has a few titles available for digital lending, and I hope they expand on that soon.
 
RabbitLuvr, does reading on the Ipad hurt your eyes at all? When the Kindle first came out, I was confused why it was backlit. But after trying it compared to tablets, it's much easier on my eyes. Though, what I really don't understand is how people can read books on their phones or itouch!
 
My eyes don't hurt when reading on the iPad. I do keep the brightness auto-level turned on, so I think that helps. When I'm reading in bed with the lights out, for example, the screen auto-dims so it's not too bright and blinding me.

The only thing I don't like about reading on the iPad is that I can't take it into the bath with me. I'm far too clumsy to risk that. :p
 
Definitely paper books for me. I've never been someone that's been hugely into electronics and whatnot. I don't even have an ipod. I know a couple people with Kindles and they love them but I just can't get it into them. I love the feel and the smell of the paper and being able to take them anywhere with me and not worrying about breaking them. I'm also super clumsy and break just about everything electronic so that's another reason why I just can't get into it.
 
I like my iPad for when I'm traveling and commuting and don't want to be hauling books with me, but in general I LOVE paper books and don't think I could ever give them up...

And bookstores... well I can just wander them and look at all the books for hours. Buying ebooks just isn't the same :p
 
Oh, DEFINITELY true about buying books! I can roam around the used book store all day! Just isn't the same to browse amazon, which I can only do for a few minutes before I get bored. :p
 
I bought a kindle 2 in Feb of 2009 and haven't read a paper novel since, cookbooks yes, strictly for pleasure nope.
 
I think paper books are better for the author. It can take a long time to write a book. An eBook costs twice as much as a sandwich at Subway, which took maybe 5 minutes to make.
 
I can drop a paper book and it doesnt cost me £100 to repair : D

I like the convenience of having an ebook reader, when I worked for Sony and the PRS505 was new it was permenantly on my desk so I could read Alice in Wonderland while pretending to be doing product research. I get so bored without having a book to read, and have been known to take two to work just so I am not stranded on the bus home without one (before I could drive that was). To be able to just have 100 there in front of me would have been neat. sometimes it'd also be handy if the book I want to read is 800 pages long and takes up my whole bloody bag.

However I like real books. I definately agree about going into a bookshop (used or otherwise) and wandering around for ages. Noone will go in a book shop with me as they know they'll get bored haha. I like the look of old books, and randomly looking at my bookshelf having memories bought back of all the awesome books ive read*. So all in all, I'm not tempted to actually buy one.

*It's probably worth mentioning that every library in my area is really crap. if I could go to a library and find something I wanted to read, I would. Alas nowadays it's all internet PCs and DVD rentals there and they are all open funny hours.
 
Both for me.

Regular books can be a lot cheaper or just more available than buying new for ebook readers.

But ebook readers provide a lot of free (legally!) books if you know where to look.

There's also really nifty things you can do with the kindle. For example, I've gotten into the longform + readability thing lately ( http://www.stuartwaterman.com/kindle-longform-reading/ ) and have been reading tons of great, in-depth articles on my kindle.
 
Anything that is illustration/photo heavy is worthless as an ebook.

And most cookbooks absolutely stink on a Kindle. Especially those without a hyperlink enabled TOC or index.
 
I like the idea of both. I wouldn't mind my small library of reference material books (and others I would like to get) on an easy to use, search, jump to table of contents and index, ebook.
 
I love to read and I read both e-books and paper books....but gotta agree I love the smell and feel of an actual book and shopping for books is awesome....

peace, love and miracles happen:)
 
I don't like reading long texts on a screen. Forums are fine, although even wall-of-text posts there hurt my eyes. It has to be paper or audiobook or I can't read it.