Will e-book readers eventually go back to paper books?

[Tony1988]

Ereaders are here to stay. But paperbooks arent going anywhere either. There are just too many people that do not want an ereader. I know more people right now that would rather read paperbooks than ebooks.

An example: My friend bought a kobo touch(his first and last ereader) and really didnt care for it. For him its easier to just go out and buy the physical copy, instead of messing around with his computer or wifi link to download books, update firmware etc.

Some people just do not want to buy an $100+ device to read books on and than update that device every couple years. They dont want to deal with faulty devices or battery charging. Its cheaper and easier for for them to just get the papercopy.

Also from reading these boards and elswhere. It seems like half of ereader users were never avid readers to begin with. They were jst techies or gifted an ereader and got into reading that way.

[xg4bx]

i never, ever thought i'd adapt to ebooks but now i don't know what i'd do without them. i still love getting a spanking new paperback but once you experience the immediacy (and generally lower prices) of an ereader/ebooks, going totally back to paper would be impossible.

[Bilbo1967]

For me, it's the portability. I travel a lot for work and am an avid reader. The ability to carry hundreds of books with me is the selling point for me - paper books are never going to be able to offer that.

As an example, I was stuck in Germany when the ash cloud descended. If I hadn't had my e-reader with me, I would have run out of things to read. For me, that's not far away from running out of air to breathe

[gweeks]

Originally Posted by Graham Coulson

By all accounts, e-books are so popular they’re outselling paper books and we constantly hear cries of sheer delight from people who simply love their e-reader. They’re all the rage at the moment.

BUT… is it just a short-term craze? … Will the mania cool? … Will a growing number of current devotees slip back to increasingly reading paper books, ultimately to then consign their once beloved e-reader to the recycling dump? Not me, I hear you cry!

I’d love to know what other people feel and why. If you can give your reasons for why you feel the way you do, it’ll promote a really interesting debate.

I haven't yet. How's that. I started with an original Rocket. I do still buy and read on paper, and have all along.

Greg Weeks

[Fbone]

I wonder how many people with ereaders actually use them?

[jgaiser]

Still buy paper. Cookbooks still aren't a big ereader thing yet and my tastes in books still hasn't caught up with the ebook publishers, but..

Nope. Ain't gonna happen.. Too convenient. A whole library in my Kindle or Nook. Read whatever my tastes are for the day. Forgot my reading glasses.. Ok, larger font. Need a new book? Turn on 3G or find an open WiFi and nearly instantly you're ready to read from anywhere. Nope. Ain't gonna happen..

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I wonder how many people with ereaders actually use them?

Seriously? You forgot the smiley..

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I wonder how many people with ereaders actually use them?

I've never come across an eReader owner that doesn't use their reader... possibly there are some out there but I haven't met any... most of my friends, family and acquaintances are heavy readers, everyone that's got a reader uses it extensively... they often still read paper but prefer eReading...

[ClairePMR]

I started using my first ereader (Rocket ebook) around ten years ago, and haven't bought more than a dozen paper books since. And I read every single day, usually at least a hundred pages. Can't imagine why I'd ever go back to paper books, except in the (increasingly rare) circumstance that something I'm dying to read is unavailable in electronic form.

[carld]

I certainly won't ever go back to paper books except as a last resort. Given that e-ink readers have been with us (in the US) for almost five years and have only been growing in popularity, I don't see any real chance that people will do a 180 and go back to paper.

[AJ Starr]

I started converting, (i.e., scanning) my paperback books back on my old Windows ME machine, using Adobe 4. I even bought a couple of ebooks from that time which are totally defunct since that was before DRM, before Adobe DE, before time began. No one here at Mobile read could figure out the old locking scheme worked when Adobe 6 converted to 7 and required you to go to Adobe DE. This was also before Stephen King announce his books would come out in ebook format.. (Anyone remember that?)

I converted for a few reasons......
1. My books that I love to read time and time again were wearing out. I very much enjoy rereading them and the only way to save them was to convert them to digital since they were out of print.

2. My paperback book shelves were getting TOO full. I have no place to put more paperbacks.

3. My eyesight was going bad and I needed to increase the size of the font. I prefer about a 20pt font to read versus the usual 8 to 10 pt font that computer screen use.

No I can't go back to reading pb's. I have three sets of glass now just to see what I'm doing.

Also, a few months ago I FINALLY converted my husband. Now he uses his ereader instead of playing video games. (Yeah!!!)

AJ

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Graham Coulson

By all accounts, e-books are so popular they’re outselling paper books and we constantly hear cries of sheer delight from people who simply love their e-reader. They’re all the rage at the moment.

BUT… is it just a short-term craze? … Will the mania cool? … Will a growing number of current devotees slip back to increasingly reading paper books, ultimately to then consign their once beloved e-reader to the recycling dump? Not me, I hear you cry!

I’d love to know what other people feel and why. If you can give your reasons for why you feel the way you do, it’ll promote a really interesting debate.

I'd say unlikely. This has been in the works for at least 20 years, I don't see it going away. Will the hardware and formats change? perhaps, I'm still rooting for epub or its descendent to be the standard....we're still not quite there yet. If we can get the publishers to realize then end is near we might even get some better prices on ebooks.

[cfrizz]

Reading is one of my major forms of entertainment, but I pretty much stopped buying paperbacks back in the early 2000's simply for space reasons, expense and eyesight. I switched over to reading fanfic since I was able to copy the stories into word & increase the font to what is comfortable. I haven't touched a pb in a year and a half since I got my Sony, and I have already got 381 books!

Needless to say, I'm NOT going back to paper.

[mikeayers]

The one thing that paperbacks have over ebooks is the used book market. With paperbacks you get a serious discount as the book ages.... with ebooks that does not seem to be the case.

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

Reading is one of my major forms of entertainment, but I pretty much stopped buying paperbacks back in the early 2000's simply for space reasons, expense and eyesight.

I can understand the other reasons but expense?? Ebooks are not really cheaper (some are more) and buying a new ereader every couple years at $100+ a pop is going to ruin any savings you MAY get buying some ebooks.

Originally Posted by mikeayers

The one thing that paperbacks have over ebooks is the used book market. With paperbacks you get a serious discount as the book ages.... with ebooks that does not seem to be the case.

And this is the one reason paper books will stay with us till the end of the world.(ok maybe not the end of the world.LOL) Thousands read books frugally. They buy and sell cheap, trade etc. This is something that just cannot be done with ereaders as effectively.(unless you are content reading the same free classics over and over again)