How did you feel about reading a paper book after The Transition?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ahi

Speaking of which, the ergonomics of liseuses are horrible.

If you find the ergonomics of a birght light to be horrible, then you've bought the wrong lamp.

[JSWolf]

I do find reading with my 505 to be a lot easier then reading from a big hardcover book. The 505 is lighter and a lot easier to hold in one hand. Even though paperbacks (mass market) are easy enough to hold with one hand, I do need the other hand to turn the page.

Hmmm, to be honest I still read some paper but none of them are the paperbacks that used to make up so much of my library. The paper I still have or buy are at least a good full size hardback.

In fact I will buy the hardback AFTER reading the digital version if I really enjoyed it and figure to reread it leisurely later. There is something that still satisfies long held desires by settling into a comfortable chair (especially when the weather turns chilly) with a slow reading book being read just to read. Books like this make it easy to end up with some really nice book shelves. (Looking over I can see one shelf with Tolkien, the Oz series and a good chunk of Twain. All of them in high quality bindings and paper that make them a joy to read.)

Sooo, guess that means I don't read digital much? Not true. 98 percent of my reading is still on some sort of screen. Most of my reading before was done in paperbacks which my Sony and Cybook have taken over. Reading a standard PB now is...awkward (some actually border on painful for some of the more badly bound ones).

It all boils down to moving from a library consisting of paperbacks with some hardbacks (limited due to small space in the apartment) to a library consisting of digital and HQ hardbacks.

By using the reader so much I've actually become a more discerning physical book buyer and reader due to higher standards compared to the previous baseline of PBs.

[darylbrayman]

What I like about pBooks is browsing. I've been reading eBooks for 4 or 5 years. But I still spend a good chunk of time in Chapters (Canadian version of Barnes and Nobles) just looking around. I find more new and interesting books like that than I ever will at Fictionwise, Sony store etc... Lets face it ebook stores basically suck.Then there is the discount pBooks books, I'm a big sucker for those. So I still read a fair amount of pBooks at home but none when I'm away, which is half the year. I really don't find a difference. To me it's all about the story, not the packaging.

Regards, Daryl

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by JeremyZ

I'm just curious how everyone felt when they read their first paper book after getting accustomed to their eBook readers?

I haven't gone back yet, so I don't know. But it is just a matter of time.

The thing I like most about my reader is that it is so easy to read laying down. No more thumb cramps!

The only thing I DON'T like about my reader is the comparative lack of variety when compared to paper books. The 350,000+ book selection advertising is deceptive, because they are not all unique books.

I have a huge issue not just going back to printed books, but since I read most of the time on my N800 right now, that means FBReader which lets you control almost every aspect of how a books appear on the reader. Of course it is a generic "one size fits all" config not on a book by book basis...

Speaking of reading...I think I need a bit of a Hal: Space Jock fix tonight...

These days the only print books I read are photography books and the odd coding reference when I want to mod one of my own apps...

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by darylbrayman

What I like about pBooks is browsing..... I find more new and interesting books like that than I ever will at Fictionwise, Sony store etc... Lets face it ebook stores basically suck.

Its funny, I actually find it the other way around.

While In bookstores I might read around more in the same genre, on switching to eBooks I'm finding that I'm reading a lot of books I would never ever have thought off reading if I saw them in the bookstore. Some of the books I've discovered by just random trawls through the bookstore, searching by title or keyword for a certain word and finding a lot of interesting books which iIve never seen before.

While eBook selection is a bit limited compared to paper books, especially if you have a good local bookshop with a lot of variety, I've found that I usually have more to read then I really have time for. Coupled with rereading old favorites, I've not run out of reading material in past couple of years.

Also, Half of the year I'm in places and countries where English language book selection tends to be mainly limited to the latest bestsellers, if that. As such the variety available as eBooks and the prices are often a godsent, especially when comparing it to some of the prices for books in some parts of the world (50%-100% Markup).

[mores]

I agree with darylbrayman - "browsing" through eBook stores is not the same as going to a good bookshop. I think my main problem with eBook stores is the fact that there is an inordinate number of romance and/or techbooks available, and quite often you see books from young/unknown authors flooding the category sections.
I'd like to be able to click a "only list well-known authors" button or something ... I can't read too often, and I'm not in the mood to "experiment".

Also, there is a really neat bookstore right beside where I work that specializes in crime, thriller and horror, and every day I walk past and get to see awesome covers of books I know I want to read. It kind of makes me sad that I can't support this guy because I just can't bring myself to read a pBook. I did buy a couple as presents for friends and family.

[PhishStyx]

Originally Posted by JeremyZ

**OT WARNING**

You get your hair cut together??!! VERY romantic! Seriously. I'm one of those guys who finds that things like this are more romantic than flowers & chocolates. I'm trying to get my wife around to this way of thinking, but I'm not doing well.

Thanks for all the great replies everyone!

Heh, romance isn't exactly the purpose behind it. My wife got tired of me going 6 months or more without a haircut* and started making appointments for me with her beautician and insisting that I drive her there.

As for flowers and chocolates, I'd get my wife those things, but she kills every plant we get and constantly complains about her weight (or at least her waistline).

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Another VERY useful feature, if you're reading a long and complex book (something like "The Count of Monte Cristo", for example, since I know you've read that recent) is the ability to search. If a character suddenly "reappears" in the story whom you've not encountered for several hundred pages, it can be useful to be able to quickly search for their name to refresh your memory as to the context in which they last appeared.

Yes, that's a feature I miss most when I'm reading a pbook.

And how do I feel? I always get pain in my hands because I have to keep the book open. Or I'm turning and turning and again turning in bed because I want to read the other page... I find it inconvenient, as I need the bedlight on, instead of using the backlight on my reader. And I can't really curl around my book, as I will block the bedlight.

Having said that, I will not get rid of my pbook collection, far from it. But for general reading I'll use my reader.

[katysax]

I use the public library more. Since I prefer the reading experience on the ebook reader, I don't want to keep buying paper books. Unfortunately there are still many books I wish to read that are available only on paper. This has led to my rediscovery of the public library (which is reinforced by my office being directly across the street from the Los Angeles Main Library which is significantly better than my local branch). Instead of buying books unavailable electronically, I now borrow them from the library.

Occassionally I'll buy a used copy of a book and turn it into an ebook for my own use.

I prefer the ability to carry multiple books, the ability to adjust fonts, the ability to leave the reader flat on a table, the ability to search the text, the ability to immediately reference a dictionary, the small size of the device, and the overall reading experience on the ebook reader. I am taking the commuter train to work and back; it is an hour each way. The ebook reader is perfect for the train.

[alecE]

I've had my 505 for nearly a year now, and I'm still happy to read pbooks, if there isn't an e version conveniently to hand. My preference for ebooks is demonstrated though by my intention to start converting some of my very old Penguins (2/6d or less!) to epub via scanning and editing.
Love:
carrying my entire security blanket, sorry, library around with me;
being able to eat my lunch and read without dropping the book in the gravy;
the pages don't go yellow and brittle;
can bookmark LOTS;
can correct the typos if item is not DRMd

Don't like:
not being able to flick through the pages;
the 505 is nbg for illustrations;
referring to endnotes is clunky;

For me, pbooks will still win out when the content is heavily illustrated (imagine trying to look at an Ansell Adams photo on a 505); otherwise, the liseuse wins hands down for portability and convenience.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you find the ergonomics of a birght light to be horrible, then you've bought the wrong lamp.

[jenieliser]

I just read my first paper back in a while...I was trying to read in bed, on my side, and kept getting really frustrated that I had to reposition the book every time I needed to turn the page, or turn over to be comfortable reading. I missed my Reader.

[LDBoblo]

If a book is something I deem important or useful or enjoyable enough to reread or reuse, I get it in paper. If it's more disposable reading like magazines or newspapers, I stick to paper or computers. If it's a disposable novel that's very difficult for me to even give away, I'll try to put it on my ebook reader to save space. If the story turns out to be really good halfway through though, I might try to get a paper copy so I can finish it.

I'm not yet lazy enough or disabled enough to complain about reading on paper.

[neilmarr]

Ebook reading has transformed my home ... and probably saved my marriage.

Although I don't mind passing books on to other bookworms, I hate the idea of trashing them. But so few folks where I live in France read English, that I -- quite literally -- can't give 'em away (though my French wife can easily offload her French language novels).

The result is that I've collected so many books over our eighteen years together that you can hardly move in our wee apartment for bookshelves, bursting at the seams, lining every wall, books in wobbly stacks all over the place, books on pretty well every flat surface, books under the bed, books in wardrobes, books on top of wardrobes; even the cave (the local equivalent of a basement or attic) is jam-packed with teachests full of books.

Drives my wife nuts. So -- now doing all my recreational reading on a 505 -- she managed to persuade me for the first time on Friday that 'some' of these books should go and that the weekend should be dedicated to the clearance job.

It was a painful decision to make -- like throwing an old but old friend out of the house because he'd outlived any usefulness and was taking up too much space.

But I was amazed, as we checked out each book, just how many -- if I every want to read them again -- I can get in ebook form. Box after box of books was earmarked to be disposed of. And today, we have a few hundred more to sift through before we're through.

Already, there's a new feeling of space and order at home (the cat is confused). And, you know, I hardly shed a tear.

Ebook reading has turned what looked like a cross between a dusty old second hand book shop and a garage sale into a pretty neat place to actually live ... and my thankful and happy wife, Skovia, has just brought me a pot of fresh coffee onto the terrace with a nice Havana Romeo y Julietta cigar for after breakfast.

Swearing off treebooks has vastly improved the quality of life in ways I rever dreamed of.

Cheers. Neil

PS on Monday morning: the clearing of Chez Marr is almost complete. With ruthless dedication, I've consigned about five-hundred books to the dumpster. I doubt they'll ever be replaced by new treebooks -- who needs 'em? N