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haertig · 09-18-2021, 11:40 PM

I don't think ebooks can be beat for convenience when reading a novel. You don't have to worry about the book closing on you. You don't require the physical space that paper books take. I will admit that I enjoy looking at my paper books on the shelf. Most I have re-aquired in ebook form, but I still have the paper copies because I like looking at them. Weird, huh? I can't explain it. On a recent trip where I was on an airplane for 8 hours flight time each way, my ereader was invaluable. Try being crammed into a crowded plane trying to read a paper book (two hands to hold it open usually, and a bit of a pain to handle around the highly spill-able plastic cups they give you with your pretzels). Another bonus for ebooks is the speed with which you can get them. Near instantaneous ordering one over the internet. Rarely do I need to get a book this fast, but sometimes I want instant gratification and don't want to wait a day or two for Amazon to get it here. And for library books, the convenience of download over driving to the library is great.

But for technical books, textbooks, cookbooks, etc. a paper book can't be beat. I don't care what anybody else says, but PDF's on a Kindle just plain suck. Better on a tablet, if it's a larger tablet, but still not as good as their paper equivalent.

I like both kinds of book, for different purposes. Since I read more novels than technical books these days, I use an ereader much more frequently than a paper book. For a frequently used technical book - I'm thinking something like "The C Programming Language" from back in my work days - I can find the required spot in the book in a heartbeat just by fanning through the pages noting page layouts that I recognize. I could find the same spot in an ebook using the search feature or scrolling, but that would be much slower. Even finding the spot with an ebookmark would be slower than what I can do with a paper book that I know well.

So it's a YES to both book types from me. You choose the type based on what's best for your current need.

09-18-2021, 11:40 PM	#87
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,898 Karma: 31522252 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26	I don't think ebooks can be beat for convenience when reading a novel. You don't have to worry about the book closing on you. You don't require the physical space that paper books take. I will admit that I enjoy looking at my paper books on the shelf. Most I have re-aquired in ebook form, but I still have the paper copies because I like looking at them. Weird, huh? I can't explain it. On a recent trip where I was on an airplane for 8 hours flight time each way, my ereader was invaluable. Try being crammed into a crowded plane trying to read a paper book (two hands to hold it open usually, and a bit of a pain to handle around the highly spill-able plastic cups they give you with your pretzels). Another bonus for ebooks is the speed with which you can get them. Near instantaneous ordering one over the internet. Rarely do I need to get a book this fast, but sometimes I want instant gratification and don't want to wait a day or two for Amazon to get it here. And for library books, the convenience of download over driving to the library is great. But for technical books, textbooks, cookbooks, etc. a paper book can't be beat. I don't care what anybody else says, but PDF's on a Kindle just plain suck. Better on a tablet, if it's a larger tablet, but still not as good as their paper equivalent. I like both kinds of book, for different purposes. Since I read more novels than technical books these days, I use an ereader much more frequently than a paper book. For a frequently used technical book - I'm thinking something like "The C Programming Language" from back in my work days - I can find the required spot in the book in a heartbeat just by fanning through the pages noting page layouts that I recognize. I could find the same spot in an ebook using the search feature or scrolling, but that would be much slower. Even finding the spot with an ebookmark would be slower than what I can do with a paper book that I know well. So it's a YES to both book types from me. You choose the type based on what's best for your current need.