Those "I just like the feel of a book in my hand" people

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Anarel

Sorry, sorry, I made the crazy comment, everyone else is fine ^^; It's all on me.

La la la.....

well....actually its not just you.

E-book readers are wonderful. The advantages are too numerous to list, tho I've tried in the past.

But many people feel that those who prefer paper books are just........odd.

We have enough problems in this world without creating more divisions.

@jphphotography .....your sister will come around. When she sees how many books she can carry around...how easy it is to read anywhere, anytime, when (if your library carries them) she sees how she can download ebooks without worrying about have to get them back before they expire, or even going anywhere......she'll come around.

It just takes more time for some. Like me !

[Barty]

Umm, until the Singularity arrives, humans are physical tactile beings. Why do you think people got attached to vinyl records in a way they never did with CDs. Nobody misses CDs, except the recording industry. Ironically, by putting music a more compact and convenient form, the industry desentimentalized music ownership and collection and devalued their own product. After that came mp3 and napster and music became content. You don't even own music now, you just license it. You can't exactly lovingly flip through your iTunes collection the way you do a box of old records.

How exactly do you pass down a beloved book with your ereader? Son, today you're a man. Here's a copy of the book your grandfather gave me. Click here to download. Not quite the same, is it?

It's not nostalgia or nuttiness, it's called being human.

Bgw, I own both an iPad and a k3, so don't bother branding me a Luddite.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Barty

How exactly do you pass down a beloved book with your ereader? Son, today you're a man. Here's a copy of the book your grandfather gave me. Click here to download. Not quite the same, is it?

It's not nostalgia or nuttiness, it's called being human.

Bgw, I own both an iPad and a k3, so don't bother branding me a Luddite.

Yes...my favorite. There will ALWAYS be a place for paper books.

Not as many as today, not as numerous as today......but every bit as important.

[GA Russell]

On another board we were talking about eBook readers a year ago, and one of the guys from Ottawa chimed in with the usual "I prefer the feel of real books", not realizing that those of us here at MR have heard that plenty of times.

Well, guess who has a kobo now! I don't know why, but he changed his mind on a dime.

I suspect that people who feel the way the OP suggested unconsciously think that they have to make a permanent choice. They know it's silly, but when they hear the question, "Would you like to read an eBook?" they think "Would you like to live without paper books for the rest of your life?"

Of course no one is suggesting that, and no one would agree to it.

This is why I think that public domain books are the best sales incentive. I think that most negative people would have a different response if you said, "Would you like to know how I have obtained since Christmas 500 books that look interesting for free and completely legally?"

[zoran]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

There will ALWAYS be a place for paper books.

Textbooks are something that should be better on paper. Aside for
asking pals or cousins to have book for day or two.

[SolRaven]

I love the feel, texture and smell of a real book just as much as anyone, but when I want to get comfortable and lose myself into a book, and ereader is definitely the way to go. It's always the perfect weight, perfectly balanced, the perfect size and the pages always turn perfectly, as opposed to sometimes getting stuck, or turning 2 pages at once. To me, it's just a smoother experience that just leaves me and the words lost in our own world.

[Salgueiros]

I can understand people who say that. I also looove the smell of a old book. It really infuses my mind with wonderful memories. The object itself is a source of constant fascination to me. I cannot think of something that had such an intense use for so many centuries that had not changed its design as paper books had. One of the reasons is that it was almost perfect for its function. I do feel that whatever i learn or feel reading that book is somehow materialized in that funny little brick of yellowish sheets of paper.

Liseuses are VERY practical, and that is one of the almost irresistible virtues of these devices. You can carry with you almost all your library! However, they are still a bit fragile. I cannot throw it in my backpack and walk away just like that. I already broke a screen of one, because i forgot to put it in a hard case, so they require a liiitle but more care than a normal paperback. No way i can use it as a headrest, pillow or forget it in the rain, or even step on it. I think in this aspect books are still better than liseuses...

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by Salgueiros

However, they are still a bit fragile. I cannot throw it in my backpack and walk away just like that. I already broke a screen of one, because i forgot to put it in a hard case, so they require a liiitle but more care than a normal paperback. No way i can use it as a headrest, pillow or forget it in the rain, or even step on it. I think in this aspect books are still better than liseuses...

True, I think they both have the strengths and weaknesses, but when it comes to reading in the tub, the ereader wins hands down. I just use my vacuum sealer around my reader and get in the tub. You don't have to worry about your soaked fingers soaking the pages w/ each turn. If you drop it, you haven't ruined the book.

I guess when I think about books vs. ereaders I think about how I feel about cars and their transmissions. I've always driven a manual transmission and just love the feel of driving a stick, but...electric cars become more affordable and more practical, I'll be the first person online at Tesla Motors. I may love the roar of the engine and shifting btwn gears, but a silence, super quick and clean car wins hands down any day of the week.

[TheKindleWorm]

Smell can definitely play a part but both ways.

My Dad loves the smell of new books and also magazines. He is also a bit OCD about any pages getting creased even on a magazine. I have to say though that he isn't much of a reader. He never reads fiction and just browses through factual books. It's as if owning the items are more important than using them.

I am weird the other way because I cannot bear the smell of second-hand paper books. It actually makes me feel ill thinking that someone else has read the book before me and were their hands clean etc! So I had only ever purchased new books for myself before catching on to ereading devices. Now I don't need to worry about funny smells - except for the Kindle cord which was a bit pongy when new out the box!

[zoran]

Or the way one buys the book. It was easy to go to the bookstore
and explore bookshelf. Read a sentence here, sentence there. You
have an impression on style and would you like it. How to have it on
digital content? Reading paid review? If one knows what he/she wants,
ebook sounds better. For fiction. For something that has to be read all
over and over, paper must be better.

[doreenjoy]

I've always loved physical books, especially nice hardbacks and trade paper (can't stand the cheap paperbacks they're coming out with). As an author, there's nothing like seeing your book in a store at the airport, or holding the first copy in your hands. So I can understand the "there's just something about a ppaer book" crowd.

But even with all that, I prefer e-books. They're more convenient, easier to carry, and I can make the font as big as I need (which is bigger and bigger every year). Plus they last forever, unlike cheap mass-market paperbacks that are printed on acidic paper.

[Bikeridr]

Originally Posted by SolRaven

... super quick and clean car wins hands down any day of the week. ...

As an engineer, I shall not begin the discussion of the environmental catastrophe the electric car is. (As opposed to everyones belief, it pollutes way more than a modern combustion engine car).

Anyway, that aside, and back to topic:
I will probably *never* give up paper books completely.
Yes, I'm a gadget freak and I remember as a little boy 30-35 years ago I had a "vision" and practically constructed the ebook reader. My dream then, was having the complete series of the Hardy Boys by the pen name Franklin W. Dixon in one "book". (Maybe, out of nostalgia I should start to reread the 40 some books stored in my parents house library)

Back to books; an ebook reader ("lesebrett") would probably not in a foreeable (or immediate) future become a foldout A2 size weather proof atlas. So, my Wil Tirion Star Atlas still beats the ebook reader by far, out in the field on astronomy observing.

So, I choose the best of both worlds. It will be a complete new world for me, not needing to tonne down my hand luggage on longhaul flights (I'm a sailor in international trade by profession), but still be able to choose among 119 books.

And yet again, I still like the really big books/atlases/publications that I can spread out over "half my" living room floor.

[neilmarr]

Most 'feel-of-the-book' folks have never tried ebook readers. They blindly associate and confuse a love of reading with a love of treebooks because they have never experienced a book in any other form.

I've encountered few who haven't almost immediately re-evaluated their prejudice after giving electronic presentation a fair crack of the whip.

Best wishes. Neil (who loves the feel and the smell of his rich leather reader cover)

[Iridal]

My parents have a huge library in their house with thousands of paper books that they've collected over the years. You just have to walk into that room to realize that yes, books do smell good. When I was younger and still living at home I just loved spending time there, looking at the cover art, reading a book in a comfortable chair.

I have a reader now because it's so much easier to carry around, but I'll probably never stop buying (collecting) paper books.

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by jphphotography

I was just wondering if anyone else has come across these people since they've got their kindle. Since I've got mine I've seemed to turned into a Kindle spokesman and am trying to convert friends over to ebooks. I've been reading ebooks for years now but always on tiny devices that weren't really meant to be ereaders so I never really showed them to anyone.

My sister for example is a ferocious reader and I thought for sure she'd be the perfect candidate for a Kindle. Nope. Her and a few other people I've shown say the same thing "it's neat an all but there is still something about having a physical book in your hand". Personally I think these people are crazy

I just thought I'd see what reactions other kindle owners have had when showing their reader to friends etc.

I always get the same reaction when reading electronic books, even from booklovers. A kind of '' what a weird way to read' /gadgetfreak look.
But before I had an ereader, I used to get the same look when people discovered I always carried one or two books with me in my bag.
For me a book means two things:
One of them has to do with aesthetics. I collect rare books and antique engravings, and I just love their smell and history ; the binding, texture of papier, the graphic design of the newer books. My work also has to do with preserving old prints and such.
The other one is the inner world of the books; if I may call it like that. I just immerse myself in a book, in its contents, and that has nothing to do with the external aspect of the book. As a child I use to cry over the old version of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
I also get that same intense relationship with books on an ereader.
So actually, I don''t have to choose, as books for me are separated in two distinct things, that can't and won't compete.

edit: Kindleworm: I also can't stand people creasing a book I lend out. It makes me sad.