Will e-book readers eventually go back to paper books?

[Pinecone]

Originally Posted by Jeremiah.L.Burns

People aren't going back to vinyl

Actually vinyl is making a comeback. But only to a niche market. But a regrowing one.

[cotyleus]

Originally Posted by Graham Coulson

By all accounts, e-books are so popular they’re outselling paper books and we constantly hear cries of sheer delight from people who simply love their e-reader. They’re all the rage at the moment.

BUT… is it just a short-term craze? … Will the mania cool? … Will a growing number of current devotees slip back to increasingly reading paper books, ultimately to then consign their once beloved e-reader to the recycling dump? Not me, I hear you cry!

I’d love to know what other people feel and why. If you can give your reasons for why you feel the way you do, it’ll promote a really interesting debate.

Honestly? I PREFER dead tree books to ebooks. I love the feel, the smell the texture..yes I AM a hedonist that way..guess that would make me a bibliophile, I don't know. That being said I enjoy ebooks too. It allows me to pay for an ebook cheaper, as a general rule, than a real book. or at least on par with the price of a real book. If it's not someone I'm truly insane about author wise, or never read, then it allows me to try a new author without the risk of filling up precious shelf space I might not like. The only downside to it is I can't resell it to one of the resale shops later to at least recoup SOME of my money if I end up hating it.

Back to price for a minute. Price in a lot of cases from the bigger publishers is what truly irks me. Are you truly going to tell me it costs you the same or more to put out an ebook for a deadtree you are already in the process of printing or about to print? Don't think so. Which is why most of what I read tends to come from the 'smaller' or specialty houses. Which makes sense since most of what I read is scifi and military based sci fi at that. So most of what I read comes from Baen. Cheap in regards to price and..No DRM! Hallelujah! A house that understood from the start what a crock of poo that DRM is. Not that DRM is that much of a problem anymore. not with all the DRM stripping programs out there now. Not that I personally have had to use them yet. If I keep going I'll really start rambling so I'll just end it here.

Coty

[Flip Martian]

I still prefer the tactile physicality of "real" books and still buy them. The attraction of e-reader is the obvious - convenience, lots of books on 1 device etc, but also - a free library of classics, of out of copyright material I'd never even heard of, now at my fingertips.

I can't bring myself to "buy" an e-book - to me its an electronic file with no substance. So anything recent I want, I buy the physical book. But if I'm away, or commuting , I pull out my e-reader.

I love mooching in secondhand book shops - but at the moment on my Sony, I'm reading an account by Mark Twain of travelling across America in a stage coach! For free. How much would THAT cost in a used bookshop?!

I don't think paper books will die out - its not like vinyl when CDs came out, where they were promoted as being far superior in convenience, quality and indestructability. E-books offer convenience and portability but not the others (e-ink is still second best to read, behind ink on paper). Yet, at least. I guess the technology will only get better.

[seajewel]

I prefer my ebooks to real books now. Blasphemy, I know, but my Sony is a lot easier to handle than a thick book. and I love the portability.

[cotyleus]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

Actually vinyl is making a comeback. But only to a niche market. But a regrowing one.

That's because some of us never left it.

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Originally Posted by tompe

Really? I have never noticed that. Are you sure you do not need glasses or lenses?

I'm the same way. It's not that I can't read the smaller fonts, but the page can look cluttered to me and it's easy for me to lose my place. I don't know if I'm just a bit distractable or what, lol.

I was almost one of those "finger readers." I'd have my finger on the paragraph below where I was to keep my place. I do a similar thing when reading a bunch of text online. I highlight the paragraph above where I am to help me keep my place.

My font size on my KT is much bigger than most paper books - about the size of children's novels. And I find it much easier to keep my place.

My eyes aren't that bad. I'm a bit near-sighted, but I can read just fine with or without glasses. I just find it easier to orient myself on a page with a bigger font. I had no idea I preferred that until I had an ereader.

It's definitely a better experience to me than a dead tree book, overall. I'm reading more and it's a hell of a lot lighter than hauling books around!

I'm not going back. And I suspect as time goes on I'll have fewer and fewer paper books.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by SmokeAndMirrors

I'm the same way. It's not that I can't read the smaller fonts, but the page can look cluttered to me and it's easy for me to lose my place. I don't know if I'm just a bit distractable or what, lol.

To long lines and to small distance between lines can cause that. So try to just increase the distance between lines and see if that helps.

[xg4bx]

somebody should make an ereader in the size/shape of a paperback with text on both sides and a hinge in the middle, kind of like an ereader nintendo ds. it looks/feels like a paperback, reads like an ereader.