When I got my first 'real' computer, (not the Commodore 64,) sometime around 1983,84... I began downloading books from Project Gutenberg. I was storing them on diskettes. Only thing I knew of for storage back then. I had a huge collection that I eventually moved onto CD's, then moved to external hard drives.
I haven't stopped downloading. Just kept getting larger external drives. I now keep my collection on 1.5 terrabyte drives. And keep on downloading. I can't find any reason not to!
Stitchawl