Quote:
Originally Posted by Xanthe
I agree with your summation. 
Being able to finally afford and buy books was a big deal to me when I was younger, since I had always been an avid reader since I learned to read. I can understand preferring the tactile aspect of reading, the enjoyment of book cover designs (they just don't have the same impact on e-readers), the ability to easily share books (and re-sell them). |
Exactly!
And I didn't point out any of those things as
negative - just that these are the reasons I've seen younger people have for preferring paper.
Just as I never meant to imply that
all avid readers
must prefer ebooks - far from it; it's just that it's far more likely that when you're an avid reader, then by some point in your life you'll get to a point where space becomes a real consideration. Of course there are avid readers with no space issues - good for them; it's just that not everyone has a large house or lots of storage space, and for
those avid readers, space
does become an issue at some point.
Obviously when you have no issues with storage space, either because you have a lot of space, because you don't buy all your books (but get most from the library or borrow from friends) or give most of your read books away or sell them, and when you don't have physical problems with holding or reading paper books and find them perfectly comfortable, when you can easily find enough books to read without having to consider that you need to import every single book (and new, because used books aren't any cheaper), and when there don't seem to be any significant cost savings, there's no reason whatsoever for the majority of people to switch to ebooks.
And the younger the reader, the more likely it is that none of that is a significant issue - while there is a lot of value in owning beautiful books (that they have space for and that they have no problems reading) or being able to easily borrow books from friends. That doesn't mean older people, and older avid readers, cannot or shouldn't prefer paper; I just mean that among the 16-24-year-olds, it's completely logical that those readers are in a majority.
I
get the preference for paper books - other than the much-lauded "smell" of books (if I can smell a book, there's something wrong with it and I don't want it, and being allergic to both dust and the ink used in many cheaper books, I don't go around inhaling books), owning a beautiful object that also offers you an entertaining or enjoyable read is a very satisfying experience. Now that I've switched to ebooks for reading, and don't have to waste my very valuable remaining shelf space on read-once books with ugly covers, I've turned to buying the odd well-designed hardback and hunting down fine condition ARCs of my favourite books, as a collector.
I don't read them because I find reading on the Kindle much more comfortable, convenient and enjoyable, but I absolutely get the satisfaction of owning books as physical objects - and I don't think there's anything wrong with it.
If you're an avid reader who has loads of space and no issues with holding and reading paper books, then .. well, great for you! Just that the older avid readers (many of whom don't live in huge houses - this may also be location-dependent; in many countries, and especially in cities, most people live in small flats) get, the more likely it becomes that many of them will switch to ebooks because of practical reasons (space, eyesight, difficulties in holding narrow-margined paperbacks open).