Quote:
Originally Posted by AnemicOak
Why might someone choose an eBook over a pBook? Portability, storage space, ability to change font, ability to adjust type size or otherwise adjust aspects of the book, ...
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There are a lot of good reasons to buy an ebook, but when I weigh those reasons against buying a print book, the balance has changed. When the Sony 505 came out, I bought it and started buying ebooks instead of print. But then I began facing some of the limitations of ebooks, such as not being able to share the books with my wife and son.
And, yes, I am aware of DRM removal but that not only requires additional work and know-how, but, more importantly, it still requires multiple reading devices. The argument that some make that my wife and son could read the books on their computers or smartphones that they already own doesn't make ebooks more desirable. Reading on the computer makes the ebooks nonportable (and have you tried reading on your desktop while in bed?). As for the smartphone, my son tried and thought it was one of the worst experiences in the world. He could only display a small portion of a page at a time.
I do still occasionally buy an ebook, but today most of my book buying is hardcovers. My children and grandchildren come for a visit, go through my library, and grab a couple of books to take with them to read. They are able to not only see the dust jackets but to read the flap information and scan the book before choosing. Not so easy to do with a library of ebooks.
Point is that for some people the only option is the ebook. For them, there are no negatives only positives. For other readers, like me, ebooks are OK but far less inviting than print books. The balance scale tilts decidedly in favor of print. Consequently, I went from buying several ebooks every month to buying several hardcovers every month supplemented with the occasional ebook.