[Bob Russell]

I am a fan of e-books. No question, no doubt. For me, they are more convenient, easier on my eyes and more fun.

But paper has some important advantages that haven't gone away:

*) No DRM - Not tied to one type of Reader hardware or software technology
*) No DRM - Can still read the paper book in 30 years if I decide to keep it
*) No DRM - Can pass the book on to someone else when I'm done
*) Wide selection of titles available for sale
*) Better pricing... sometimes

Some people have emotional ties to paper and like the tactile feel and all that, but for me that's actually the electronic advantage. I love the feel and emotion of reading an e-book. I guess I'm just a gadget lover at heart.

If it seems like this topic never seems to go away, you're right. It's because we are constantly faced with the same kind of decision if we like e-books. In the case of Sony Connect, there are a lot of great books there at very reasonable prices. It is easy to purchase the e-books, and I love to read them on the Sony Reader.

But now I want to buy: Failure Is Not an Option, by Gene Kranz. It happens to be about the Apollo program by one of the guys that was right in the thick of the project. It's one of the pricing anomolies at Sony Connect, so I can either buy the paperback at Amazon for $10.20, or pay $13.59 for the Sony Reader version, with no guarantees that I'll have any way to read it after I switch to the next latest greatest e-book reader technology. (Because of the DRM, primarily, but also the BBeB format that is not widespread.)

What to do? I'm leaning toward the cheaper and more permanent paperback because I don't like feeling like I'm throwing away money. It's also a book that I might end up wanting to keep around long term. If it was a novel that I only plan to read or look at once, I'd probably buy the more expensive e-book version and just feel cheated out of a few dollars by the price.

Normally I wouldn't share such a common decision, but I have a feeling that it's one that we all make over and over again. It's not just about this one book, and this one buyer. It's really a big picture question. We just don't talk about it much at the individual purchase level. We tend to talk about "big and important" topics instead of the simple decision we all face. I'm curious what other people would suggest that I do and would like to know how other people make their decision.

So tell me what you recommend! Should I buy paper or e-book? And if the price was a bit under the paper book price, like many of the Connect e-books? What then?

Note: Please, please, please don't turn this into another DRM ranting discussion. Yes DRM is relevant, but let's not focus on DRM arguments. Let's keep it about how you would decide which version to buy!