Is anybody else spoiled for eInk displays?

[gmw]

About the only things I still buy as paper are picture books (Shaun Tan and similar). Many of the books that I have in paper I now have as ebooks too: the ebooks are what I read, the paper books are what I look at. Just recently I was telling someone that the thing I miss most with ebooks is the selection from a physical shelf. The virtual shelves/folders arrangement - especially on e-ink devices - is so much less ... real/tactile than walking the shelves pondering what it is I want to choose next.

All that said, while I have an obvious preference for my e-ink Kobo reader when it is appropriate for the material, it remains a simple fact that that it is not appropriate for many things I want to read. Magazines typically demand colour and size, so too do picture books.

So, as ungrateful as it may seem, I don't feel spoiled by e-ink displays. They are currently the best compromise for serious reading of narrative text, but that's a fairly narrow field of expertise.

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Funny how people differ. I find paper books quite unpleasant to read since I got my first eink reader almost 10 years ago. They're heavier, uncomfortable to hold, turning pages is more difficult, the contrast is generally poorer (to my eyes anyway) and you cannot search them. What's to like there?

I do get your other points, but the contrast and definition should be objectively higher on a paper book. Not that it necessarily would make it more pleasant to read - that's just a question of taste.

If you prefer e-books, then all the easier for you! It's people like me that's going to have a hard time, manually building up a library and hauling it with us every time we move

It's not only the reading experience that appeals to me with paper books, but also seeing them on the shelf. Sitting on the sofa with a couple of paper books on the ready on a small reading table, looking over at the bookshelf at the multicoloured collection of wonderfully designed book spines. Sipping some tea or coffee in anticipation of opening up a book. It feels more organic, more alive!

On the other hand, I do appreciate reading on an e-reader, too. It has some benefits over physical books. It's just different. And I prefer the paper experience.

Luckily, I can choose both!

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by kandwo

ooking over at the bookshelf at the multicoloured collection of wonderfully designed book spines. Sipping some tea or coffee in anticipation of opening up a book. It feels more organic, more alive!

The one advantage physical books have over ebooks, the one thing I wish I could do with ebooks (but can't), is book spine poetry:

https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/bookmash/

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Underline in a book? Does she also dogear pages? And you've let her live???

Well, it's not like it's a library book. She bought it, she can do what she likes. I personally don't underline or dogear pages, or at least I didn't when I was still buying paper books.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

If I want to enjoy a text, I take a paper book - even better with a leather cover and gilt edging.
If I want to quickly grasp an action, I use one of my readers with a very specific formatting: landscape format, two columns, Arial, left-justified, paragraph spacing, no first line indentation.
I read about three times as fast as with paper.

Those pBooks with a leather cover and guilt edging are very uncomfortable to hold. Trade are also not nice to hold. I liked mass market paperbacks. They were a good size to hold and they fit well in the bookcase.

[JSWolf]

What I like about eInk is that the screen is a good size. It's portable. It works well in sunlight. I have many books with me. It lasts a long time before needing to be charged. It has a front light so I can read in low or no light.

If LCD devices were good in sunlight and had a long enough battery, I might have gotten an iPad Mini for reading.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Well, it's not like it's a library book. She bought it, she can do what she likes. I personally don't underline or dogear pages, or at least I didn't when I was still buying paper books.

One reason I hated loaning books out was getting them back dogeared and the spine broken. Another was people who had a really hard time remembering to return them.
Apache

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Same here. E-books all the way. If there is a book that I badly want to read but is not available as an e-book, I give up on the book. E-ink is a technology still in transition, and its hardware more so, but though the ereader is still too fragile, I cannot see myself returning to paper books.

But you can buy a Kobo Forma that's a lot less fragile then any Kindle & nook because it uses a plastic backed screen instead of glass backed screen.

[JSWolf]

I started reading eBooks on a laptop. Then I moved to a Sony Reader PRS-500. Since then, I've been reading eBooks mostly on an eInk screen. I have used my iPhone and iPad to read but not nearly as much as my current eInk device.

[Quoth]

Reduce the laptop, tablet or phone brightness so that peak white is about the same brightness as ambient lit paper. That's about zero to 10% on all my stuff indoors.

But I do prefer eink for a serious amount of reading.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Reduce the laptop, tablet or phone brightness so that peak white is about the same brightness as ambient lit paper. That's about zero to 10% on all my stuff indoors.

I always do. But still I can't read a novel on these devices. Articles and short stuff like that, no problem. Movies, no problem. Long novels, nope.

[Ripplinger]

I always had a paperback in my hand and carried it with me until the next one. Then it became too much of a struggle with my crappy eyesight and the tiny print that I quit reading for awhile.

Until ereaders. I was in heaven again, able to read anything and never be stuck having ended one book without another to open on my way to work.

There's no reason I'd ever go back to paper books or any other device. The older the book, the worse the smell from the paper. Tactile feel of turning pages? I get the same experience but just by flipping my thumb a tiny bit.

I've never read on my computers or smaller netbooks or tablets or my phone. They're all unreadable in any amount of sunlight. Plus I'd have to be sitting in my computer chair, or too rigid a position trying to hold a heavy uncomfortable-to-hold-at-just-the-right-angle device even if I were reading at home. While my PC chair is comfortable, not enough that'd I'd want to spend hours in it reading. A phone screen is just too small for me to ever consider reading on, plus the battery wouldn't make it very long in the day. None of the above is very comfortable for me and would severely take away from my enjoyment of reading.

My ereader lets me read anywhere, anytime, any amount of sunlight, and in any comfortable position even better than just holding a small paperback. Especially in my chaise lounge in the back yard watching hummingbirds or on park benches looking out over a lake. So yes, I'm definitely spoiled and wouldn't do without an ereader.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I always had a paperback in my hand and carried it with me until the next one. Then it became too much of a struggle with my crappy eyesight and the tiny print that I quit reading for awhile.

Until ereaders. I was in heaven again, able to read anything and never be stuck having ended one book without another to open on my way to work.

I also always had a book with me and sometimes two. If I was close to the end of one I carried two so I could continue reading. Now with eBooks I have many books to choose from immediately after finishing the current read.
Apache

[JSWolf]

I too used to have a paperback with me and if I was close enough to the end, I would make sure I had another paperback with me. This was back when MMPB was the format back then.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I too used to have a paperback with me and if I was close enough to the end, I would make sure I had another paperback with me. This was back when MMPB was the format back then.

When I'm hospitalized, it's a lot easier to bring along my Kobo (and a spare charger) than a grocery bag full of paperback novels.