Buying new books, what do you prefer, ebooks or still paper editions?

[Aberlour10]

Its not a secret that the forums members are very well-read,

 

It would be interesting to know what are their preferences by buying new books?

 

Maybe added a few words about "why"...

[Cyberyeti]

No ebook reader/laptop/tablet/smartphone, so paper for me

[hrothgar]

No ebook reader/laptop/tablet/smartphone, so paper for me

 

It depends

 

For most books, I strongly prefer the ebook format.

 

1. The Kindle's with eInk are just as good as paper

2. I read a lot of books - 1.25 hour commutes in the morning and the evening - so not having to worry abut storage is a blessing

3. Being able to carry one small piece of hardware rather than 30+ pounds of books while on vacation rocks

 

There are some types of books where print media still wins out

 

1. Cookbooks

2. Graphic novels

3. Books with illustrations

 

For example, the last book that I purchased in hardcopy form was

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1610045777/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[gwnn]

The answer is ..... drum roll please ..... It depends. For bridge problems or chess books it's nice to be able to just sit down and click through the stuff. If it's literature I would hate to use anything other than paper! For science, it's kind of a tossup. It's easy on the eyes but if I have to copy-paste stuff or check something real quick, you need a computer. You know what they say, you can't grep dead trees.

[kenberg]

I voted definitely more paper. But as others are saying it depends. For pleasure reading I buy a book or I take it out from the library. I suppose I could learn otherwise but I just find it more comfortable. For mathematics I mostly like books, but I sometimes read journal articles online. I also sometimes print them out since I again find it somehow more comfortable. In those cases where the journal arrives at home and I can also bring it up online, I generally but not always read the paper version. (Well, most often I read neither version, but that's another story.)

 

Software packages, for example Mathematica, provide many options. I can buy instructional materials for a modest price. I can bring a pdf up for free online, same material. I can bring up the pdf and print it for the price of the ink and paper. I can print it out at the University for free (assuming I don't abuse the privilege). In cases like this I usually bring up the pdf online and browse. If I really want to go over it in detail I print it out, usually just printing it at home. As noted, I like reading paper. Old dogs and new tricks, I guess.

 

But in so far as the question means how do I want to read a 400 page novel, I want the paper version. I don't underline, I don't highlight, I don't bend pages, but I like the comfort of it. I don't yet own a Kindle. No principle is is involved, i probably will get one, but not yet.

[Antrax]

Novels always e-books. Graphic novels always paper. Prefer hard copies of technical material but usually willing to take the hit for the environment and get the PDF instead.

[Aberlour10]

. If it's literature I would hate to use anything other than paper! .

 

Same here. Its a feeling helding paper book in the hands I dont want to miss. Reading novels on tablet simple frustrated me. I buy only literature and art books, the other stuff will be searched in web....so I voted for "only paper"

[Scarabin]

I am probably a special case but I have reached the stage of buying 90% interactive bridge books, to practice play and help with computer simulation, and 10% paper (old books I specially want.

 

:D

[onoway]

Only paper as well but for me that includes printing out articles. I usually read just enough of them to know if they are a one shot deal or if I want to keep them as reference for more thought. It's more convenient for me than arguing with the computer telling me that it can't find the page or the link is invalid or that there is a problem and it has to close the program..

 

I don't own a kindle either but since I don't like reading even long articles on the computer then that is a strong

indication that kindles are likely not going to suit. OTOH Hrothgar's points about not having to carry around 30 pounds of books...or getting them back to the library on time.. or finding places to put the damn things... I've a hard time getting rid of books I connected with - are all very valid points indeed.

 

But computers and I do not have an easy relationship. Every one I've owned has developed some sort of weirdness. AFAIK none of them have been viruses as such but such things as turning themselves on in the middle of the night -that sort of thing.

 

Aside from anything else - just think if your kindle blew up and you lost all your (favorite) books! Yikes!

[Antrax]

My e-books are a lot more secure than my physical books. If the SD card they're on breaks, I can always restore from the backup on my PC. If my house burns down with all my electronic equipment, I can restore purchases from the cloud.

[barmar]

I've never understood this "feel of paper in my hands" thing -- the words are what matter. Holding books open is cumbersome, in my opinion, especially if you're try to do other things with your hands. I do most of my reading while eating, I have a stand for my Kindle (for paper books, I have a clip that holds it open, but it's hard on the book's spine, not as easy to flip to the next page, and doesn't work well near the beginning and end of the book).

[dustinst22]

 

 

Aside from anything else - just think if your kindle blew up and you lost all your (favorite) books! Yikes!

 

This isn't an issue -- icloud.

 

Also with an Amazon account you simply login and resend the books to your new device.

 

Paper books, on the other hand, are gone when lost/friend doesnt return it/fire, etc etc.

[blackshoe]

A while back I bought an iPad. Part of that was, well, it's an iPad. :-) I use it for a lot of stuff, including occasionally as a book reader. It's really too heavy and awkward for that, though. So I bought a Kindle. The idea was that ebooks are cheaper, kill fewer trees, and I can put a lot of them on my Kindle (or, for that matter, on the iPad). I still think that's a good idea, but I do find myself continuing to buy printed books, usually hardbacks. Mostly these are books by authors I want to keep around. I suppose I could keep them around on the Kindle, but somehow it's just not the same. So anyway, at this point I'm buying some stuff on the Kindle, and some stuff on paper, including in the latter some stuff that I'd probably be just as well off buying on Kindle. :unsure: :ph34r:

[Rain]

Ebooks. PDF or kindle.

 

For convenience in having them anywhere.

[Antrax]

One thing to point out is that a computer or an iPad are not e-readers. I never enjoyed reading electronic documents until I got my first electronic ink-based device. So, don't knock off e-books until you've tried an appropriate device.

 

Another thing in favor of e-books is you can't wear them out. I had to buy a new paper copy of Catch-22 after pages started dropping out of my first copy - and I never did anything obscene like leave the book open face down.

[the hog]

Paper only. I loathe ebooks with a passion.

[gwnn]

One thing to point out is that a computer or an iPad are not e-readers. I never enjoyed reading electronic documents until I got my first electronic ink-based device. So, don't knock off e-books until you've tried an appropriate device.

I tried a kindle too and it's nice for my eyes and it does kinda look like paper but I still didn't like it.

[kenberg]

 

Paper books, on the other hand, are gone when lost/friend doesnt return it/fire, etc etc.

 

This part about friends (not) returning books reminds me: What is the current policy on e-books? With paper, I borrow books from friends, I lend books to friends, I give books to friends, I give books to libraries, etc. I assume e-books have some rfestrictions else they would only sell one e-book of each title. But what are the restrictions? I may get a kindle, I haven't yet, just haven't bothered. But I am interested in their policy in passing things on.

[billw55]

This part about friends (not) returning books reminds me: What is the current policy on e-books? With paper, I borrow books from friends, I lend books to friends, I give books to friends, I give books to libraries, etc. I assume e-books have some rfestrictions else they would only sell one e-book of each title. But what are the restrictions? I may get a kindle, I haven't yet, just haven't bothered. But I am interested in their policy in passing things on.

Hmm, I don't read ebooks, but I would assume that they are locked in such a way that you cannot copy them to another device. So to lend it out, you would need to give the friend your reader, which should be ok under the terms of use.

[dustinst22]

This part about friends (not) returning books reminds me: What is the current policy on e-books? With paper, I borrow books from friends, I lend books to friends, I give books to friends, I give books to libraries, etc. I assume e-books have some rfestrictions else they would only sell one e-book of each title. But what are the restrictions? I may get a kindle, I haven't yet, just haven't bothered. But I am interested in their policy in passing things on.

 

Essentially you can't read the book while it's being lent out. I think the maximum amazon allows is 14 days. Can only lend it one time, cant lend out magazines or newspapers.

[Winstonm]

I only buy paper.

[Mbodell]

Essentially you can't read the book while it's being lent out. I think the maximum amazon allows is 14 days. Can only lend it one time, cant lend out magazines or newspapers.

 

Yeah, it is annoying that you can only lend it at most 1 time. Although I think the publisher also controls this, because there are some books that can't be lent at all.

[Aberlour10]

My e-books are a lot more secure than my physical books. If the SD card they're on breaks, I can always restore from the backup on my PC. If my house burns down with all my electronic equipment, I can restore purchases from the cloud.

 

Agree.

 

,But in general....Gutenbergs bible is more than 500y old, I am pretty sure, we will be able to read it in 1000 years on the original paper so good as nowdays. I doubt, it will be the case with all these current books published only as virtual editions.

[PassedOut]

I generally prefer paper for reading, but that is counterbalanced by other factors. We've accumulated a great number of books over the years and have been working to reduce the quantity of stuff we have. These days we only buy paper books that we really want to keep.

[onoway]

I was thinking about the comment someone had earlier about never understanding that the format should make any difference, as it was the content that mattered. Perhaps an analogy for me would be having a wonderful meal in nice surroundings with good friends or the exact same meal in a busy truck stop. Even if the food was precisely the same, the experience would be quite different.

 

Another thought is that there is a whole lot of trash paraded on the internet under the guise of accurate information and some of that is oozing into e-books.. for at least two years now people have been selling information on how to get your books on kindle by having someone else write them...one suggestion is to hire stay at home moms. So you can put out a book a week if you get organized, about anything at all, and you can use different names to do it under. A big selling point is that you don't have to know anything about what the book is about because you've hired people for pennies to research and write it.

 

Then you can buy membership in groups who will support each others' books ...e-books are frequently free for a brief period of time so everyon in that group gets it for nothing and so bounces it up the popularity ladder on Amazon. It's precisely the same idea as hiring a firm to post a whole bunch of "likes" on your website so as to get/keep it at the head of the pack.

 

Since e-books are basically almost free to publish the success of a book may be more the result of marketting than any intrinsic value. That's not to say that paper book publishers don't make mistakes and publish garbage and/or miss good stuff, but they were at least a filter of sorts. Presumably someone had to think that it would be worth the expense of publishing.

 

One man has made an extremely lucrative career out of teaching people not only how to market their books, but that they all have almost a duty to sell their life experiences as ebooks as a sort of social responsibility.

 

I can forsee a time when it will be difficult to get through the clutter to find the gold when ebooks have pretty much shut down the publishing houses, just as it's getting more difficult to get through the commercial and egotistical clutter on the internet in general. Now there's virtually no barrier to anyone publishing almost anything and that is definitely a mixed blessing.