Do friends buy you p-books?

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

And the treebook lovers are not 'real' readers much of the time.

I plough through about half a million words a week. That's all well and good in physical, paper form ... if you're a millionaire and can dedicate the west wing of your mansion to library space. For common-or-garden 'readers' like us, there's no practical alternative to digital.

A book is its content, not its means of presentation.

Let's have a wee vote: Hands up all those who still regularly go to the theatre to see an author's ideas played out on the stage (is there anything more artificial?) Now, hands up all those who regularly watch a movie on the TV or at the cinema. Catch my drift?

Cheers. Neil

I agree with you on the whole, Neil. There have been times that I've wished for a print version of what I'd bought digitally, though. Happens when I read history and other nonfiction books, recall something in another book and want to compare. E-books just aren't as handy for flipping back and forth, and comparing, I've found.

[neilmarr]

With you, Maggie: There are some treebooks of sentimental value and some reference books that I would never clear from my shelves. Unlike you, though, I wish all the thousand or so treebooks I still have were also available in digital form, rather than vice-versa. I'm past the point now where I can read a treebook for pleasure -- mine remain with me as ornaments or souvenirs or because there is no ebook equivalent to the reference books I need. I would rather my treebook library burned to the ground than lose my reader. Cheers. Neil