Did anyone else love their ebook reader at first but start going back to paper?

[charleski]

No. The space-savings and convenience outweigh any advantage of paper books for anything that doesn't rely on image quality. Price differences that amount to spare-change aren't an issue. I still buy print for photo and design books.

My opinion might be different if I couldn't protect my purchase by stripping the DRM from every book I buy, though. I'd have a hard time buying something that was truly locked-down.

[Mathlete]

Yeah, I have an ebook reader and I use it every so often for impulsive reading but I still read paper books 90% of the time. This is mainly due to the fact that I'm taking classes, I suppose.

I just don't understand the mentality where some people on these forums see their purchase of an epaper device as a commitment on principle to never read anything other than ebooks for the rest of their lives. It's crazy. It's as if buying a kindle or prs or whatever makes one born again; it's not an appliance so much as a way of life.

You can even detect a certain defensiveness in the responses to this thread toward the suggestion that one could backslide or relapse to paper books. But yeah, I imagine that GA Russell has it right: most who have found that they prefer paper don't stick around Mobileread for very long.

[sourcejedi]

Originally Posted by Mathlete

I just don't understand the mentality where some people on these forums see their purchase of an epaper device as a commitment on principle to never read anything other than ebooks for the rest of their lives.

WP:Sunk costs :P.

But yeah, I imagine that GA Russell has it right: most who have found that they prefer paper don't stick around Mobileread for very long.[/QUOTE]

+1. I don't read the posts here as being defensive in tone. I do think it's funny people kept feeling it was worth adding their own "No, I didn't" posts, without talking about DRM which was the OPs real point :-).

in answer to that question, there are three options

1. Keep on buying DRM'd books, and DRM readers, from the same source. Assume you can trust them to keep compatible readers in production indefinitely. (Or assume that you won't be annoyed by paying twice for books if you want to read them again in 10 years time).

2. Crack the DRM. (If you don't crack it now, you won't know for sure whether it's possible in the future). That makes you a criminal under EU and US law, and dependent on the continued availability of technology which is suppressed by law. But it is at least physically possible for you to do this with all the major formats right now.

2 b) Grab the books off the darknet (and try to find alternative ways to reimburse your favourite authors). IMO this is morally superior to cracking DRM yourself, but it's more risky (if publishers crack your darknet).

3. Buy only books without DRM. In practice, this currently means p-books + a very restricted selection of e-books. Wait until e-books become more popular, and either the DRM goes away, or a single DRM format becomes dominant enough that you can expect it to remain readable for as long as you like.


I don't see anything wrong with 3). It's just saddening if all this only sinks in _after_ you've bought your e-reader. Hopefully you can afford to chalk it up as a learning experience about technology and markets.

I bought my e-reader because I'd already read so many free e-books online. So it gave me the opportunity / excuse to re-read them on a reflective screen, and download them for archiving purposes. That said, I probably wouldn't have gone ahead if there wasn't also at least one author I was interested in buying, either from Baen's Webscription (which is all DRM-free), or from Fictionwise (which offers less popular books as DRM-free "multi-format").

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by Mathlete

I just don't understand the mentality where some people on these forums see their purchase of an epaper device as a commitment on principle to never read anything other than ebooks for the rest of their lives. It's crazy. It's as if buying a kindle or prs or whatever makes one born again; it's not an appliance so much as a way of life.

I feel I need to clarify my position here - I don't like being bundled into a group you can put a sticker on, not even implicitly.
The reason I have not bought a paper book since I started using e-readers is because I don't feel the need to. As I said, I still buy children picture books because it makes sense to do so.
E-reader covers probably 90% of my reading needs. The hassle of dealing with paper books in the other 10% is something I put up with, but that's about it.

[HarryT]

I've been reading eBooks for over 25 years. For me, it's not an "either/or" thing - I buy both eBooks and paper books, depending on availability, and what works well in each format. The overwhelming majority of my fiction is eBooks, but almost all my reference books are paper.

[Andanzas]

I've read 20 books so far this year; only 2 of them were ebooks. Part of the reason is that I've decided not to buy a new reading device until I've read all the books I have sitting on the shelves (well, at least most of them ) . Another reason is that I've been reading books not available as ebooks (it's not that easy to find ebooks of reliable quality in my language, Spanish). And my last reason is quite simple: I love books. I am currently reading Light in August in a gorgeus edition by the Library of America and I am enjoying the beauty of every single page.

I am fascinated by these new devices and I am looking forward to see the next releases, but I am also fascinated by books. I hope they never go away; I plan to be surrounded by books all my life.

[LDBoblo]

If I want to buy a book, I buy it in paper unless it's not available. Ebook reader is fine for novels I don't want to pay for.

[Crusader]

Originally Posted by HarryT

For me, it's not an "either/or" thing - I buy both eBooks and paper books, depending on availability, and what works well in each format.

I completely agree with that and I feel the same way. I still love treebooks just as much as ebooks. Depending on availability and price I will always go for the cheaper and most appropriate option.

If I can find a good 2nd hand copy or a bargain priced book I'll jump at the opportunity to add another book to my physical collection. It's nice to have a bookcase full of treasured books (even if they are only paperbacks) collected throughout the years, and luckily, at this stage I still have ample room for more.

I still read treebooks from the library on a regular basis. Mostly as a gesture of support to the establishment that nurtured my love for reading and as way of discovering new authors or authors I wouldn't necessarily buy.

I love ebooks too. They are more space efficient, often cheaper than the treebook counterpart and convenient (in the cases where you can sidestep the georestriction issue). I really can't say that I prefer any format above the other.

Between my ebook and treebook collections I have reading material to last me a couple of years. Some days it's nice to have a physical book in you hands and on other days my Opus is the weapon of choice. Either way I've got LOADS of reading to catch up on...

[thaigreg]

Hi,

I've lived overseas since Jan 03 and started using e-books in early 04. Mainly because I can get my favorite authors online,the lack of English titles here, and the libraries here have few current titles and favorite authors. If I was still living in the states I would get most of my books through libraries and purchase a few books at B & N.

Greg
.

[GhostHawk]

No, but I don't read the latest thriller/Mystery novels either.

I'll never go back to paper.

[Bremen Cole]

I can't remember the last paper book I bought..... no way would I go back....

[Ea]

Originally Posted by Mathlete

I just don't understand the mentality where some people on these forums see their purchase of an epaper device as a commitment on principle to never read anything other than ebooks for the rest of their lives. It's crazy. It's as if buying a kindle or prs or whatever makes one born again; it's not an appliance so much as a way of life.

*G* I guess you can see it that way - but I think it's 99.99% jest

As for myself, I just find my e-book reader so much more convenient and comfortable to read on. I still buy non-fiction p-books, and I've recently bought a few fiction p-books as well - but they're like collector's editions, I want them because I love the books. One of the books I've even scanned and created an e-book from, to have a reading copy. The p-book will stay in my bookcase (of course I didn't scan the new collector's edition - I used my old PB copy so as not to harm the new book ).

[njm]

I prefer using an ebook reader to reading paper but the availability of books digitally is such that the majority of books I'm reading, I'm still getting out of the library. So I'm still in a transitional state. Availability aside, I still can't justify spending 10-15 or more dollars for something I can check out of the library. But as more older material is getting published digitally, I'll be reading paper less and less, but right now it's that combination of cost and availability stopping me from being all-in.

[Graham]

I prefer to read the eBook for books that are largely text and will search for that first. In general, paper books are what I get given for Christmas and birthdays...

Graham

[Dr. Drib]

I'm a book collector and collect First Editions by authors whom I enjoy.

I enjoy handling and reading both from books and from ebook Readers.



Don