Getting back to paper books...
 

I've been finding that sometimes the cost of paper books, even brand new, ends up actually being less than the ebook version. And in some cases I am able to buy the paper book for substantially less than the ebook if I am willing to purchased used and/or through a marketplace seller.

So I balance between the ease and convenience of having books I want to read on a compact electronic device, vs having more physical 'stuff' in my life.

Is anyone else finding themselves purchasing paper books again? I went for a couple of years at least of not buying any at all, and recently I've bought a dozen in the past 3 months. Not only that, but some of them are paper versions of ebooks I have because for some reason, when I am reading books whose subject matter I am studying, I prefer the paper version. Re one author whose ebooks cost as much if not more than paper versions, I have decided to purchase the paper versions, in as good condition as I can get.

I still think it's highly unreasonable for ebooks to cost as much or more than the paper versions, but so far that seems to be the way things are trending.

I only buy paper books when there's no ebook available. The immediacy of ebooks holds a lot of value for me. So in the rare event that the paper version of the book I want to read is a few dollars less than the ebook, the wait (and potential shipping charges) cancels any percieved "savings" for me.

Even though I very rarely have to, I've always been willing to pay more for the book format I prefer.

I get the vast majority of my reading from the library, and lately 80-90% of the new books I'm interested in reading are available to borrow as either audiobooks or ebooks. I haven't purchased (or borrowed) a paper book in years. I have enough stuff in my house.

I use thrift stores for my paper books.
Though I do have to say last week when I went to the thrift store, there was a shelf of books that looked almost identical to the shelf of books I previously had at home.
Yes, every book on that shelf was ones I had donated.

I buy hardcover books if they're important to me, but I'm trying to get rid of cheap paperbacks--they're tattered, dirty, falling apart, have print that's way too small. I keep paperbacks if they've got some special sentimental value or if they're in decent condition, but otherwise I try to replace them with a hardcover or an e-book. My goal is to have bookshelves filled only with beautiful hardcovers.

Ditto. I have bought less than ten paper books in the last five years. Frankly, I feel no desire whatsoever to buy or read paper books, be they hardcover or paperback, except in the case of books with large color photos/pictures. And paper books are not cheaper where I live. They're expensive in my country, and ordering foreign books incurs shipping costs, which usually double the price.

E-books for me any time!

I've bought 1 paperback since I got my first Kindle, 5 or 6 years ago. I didn't buy it to read it but to have it scanned. I paid someone to do that and the result was poor so that was that.

I'm not sure I remember how to read a paperback. I do remember vaguely that there's print on both sides of the page, which seems kind of confusing. I'd probably be afraid to try it.

A little more seriously, I had a 35 year career as a computer programmer and in the early days (mid 1960's) we would print our programs on paper, very carefully, to have them keypunched. I also keypunched some myself if they were small. Then I began working with computers with screens and eventually text editors and typing them in. When I had to write anything I did that on the computer.

What I didn't realize until about 20 years ago, about the time I retired, was that over the years I'd lost the ability to write. I can still sign my name and if I have to put something on paper I print it. If it's short and there's a reason to write it I'll try but I usually get stuck along the way. Silly as it seems, I don't remember how.

Right now the idea of reading a paperback is more than a little bit scary. I've been tempted to do it and overcome that because I'm sure I really can, but I can't talk myself into wanting to. I'm not sure there's any point. There are a few books only available in paper but there are so many wonderful books in digital format that it's just not worth the effort.

Barry

i never thought I would fall out of love with paper books as reading has been a near lifelong obsession, but I really only like to read in ebook form now. So much so that I have had to buy the ebook when someone has 'kindly' lent me a paper book to read :smack:

I have bought a few cheap paper books to convert (as they will probably never be digitised by a publisher), and that is only for a few as I am pretty inept at the conversion so it takes a lot of time.

I did recently buy The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks in harcdcover at a writer's festival so that I could get the book autographed, but I have bought the ebook to actually read it. :o

I haven't bought a paper / hardback book since I switched to ebooks in 2010.

The same is true for me as well. Being able to adjust the font means I will not go back to paper.

I own thousands of paper books and ebooks in my personal library. In the past, every time I moved, I'd rather throw away some old furniture than my boxes of old books. Paper books were clearly my preference. But this is no longer true today. Why?

E-books published over 10 years ago designed for ebook readers or apps at the time were simply no match for corresponding paper books. While the technology of paper books plateaued decades ago, the technology of ebooks has been improving. The arrival of iBooks 1.0 released on the first-generation iPad in 2010 marked a significant milestone. Writing is an art. So should the books be! With good enough ebook hardware and software, beautifully-rendered e-books should be a clear preference for me today then, right?

Alas! The biggest problem with ebooks today is DRM. If an ebook is delivered in such a way that I cannot convert, open and read it in a reader or app of my choice, then I will not purchase it. I'd rather buy the paper book version. (Fortunately, this conversion path is still feasible today, and thus I still buy a lot more ebooks than paper books.)

This is also why I prefer to borrow paper books over ebooks from public libraries. Ebooks borrowed from my local public libraries are tied to some specific e-reader app(s) that I really don't like and can't enjoy with.

Remember that the definition of ebooks are evolving. Perhaps 20 years from now, for most newly published books, you can basically only buy them in a non-convertible DRM'ed format from one super company (whose name begins with the letter A). Well, that'll be perhaps the time for me to get back to paper books...

P.S. For my recent view on reading experience and technology, see also this post.

While it's often true that the price of an ebook is often higher than that of a used or clearanced print book, I have a large enough TBR pile on my ereader that I'm willing to wait for a sale or go without for all but a few authors.

a physical book will become damaged over time and usage. It requires physical space even when not in use. And are much more costly to transport if/when I move.

Well worth it if I need to spend a little over the paper book cost. I don't include used books since those are not a controlled market. And they could well come to you already damaged.

Personally I will never buy paper books again. If I find the ebook is too expensive I will just put them on a wishlist and wait for the price to drop.

Note:I only buy ebooks on sale except for one author and only one of his series.
I have bought 2 of his books, one hardcover, one paperback for full price. Both went to my mom.