The urge to only read e-books

[Andy_T]

On one hand I love to read eBooks since I got my Kindle, because it's so convenient and I love the possibilities to have my books with me everywhere.

On the other hand, I am sometimes feeling reluctant to pay 10$ for an electronic book, if I can get the same paper book for 11$. Of course, what is important about the book is the content, still, if you buy a paper book, you can put it on the shelf, give it so somebody else to read, or sell it on after you have read it.

So although I never really do sell books after having read them (and in the very few cases where I did sell them did not get much more than maybe 2 $ for a used book, plus having the hassle of shipping etc.), it is still my feeling that Amazon is making much more money on me (not so much of it goes to the author I fear) when I buy an ebook instead of a pbook. Weird, isn't it?

Best regards,
Andy

[Kevin8or]

Originally Posted by Andy_T

if you buy a paper book, you can put it on the shelf, give it so somebody else to read, or sell it on after you have read it.
[...]
it is still my feeling that Amazon is making much more money on me [...] when I buy an ebook instead of a pbook. Weird, isn't it?

It's not weird, although I'd not say it's much more money. The shrinking of the re-sale market is a lamentable aspect of the rise of e-books. I've bought some real gems through abebooks. As the years go on, second-hand inventory will decrease. The downward pressure it exerts on new-book prices will also decrease.

[gurion]

I'm too reading only e-books nowadays. It was just 1 hardcover book from the library in the past 2+ years that I was interested to pick up.

[Lsantiago7859]

It has been 1 year since I got my Nook and more than a year since I bought a book. I have no intention of buying any physical books. I hope all books will be epub by the time I reach 80 (which is not too long LOL).

[piper28]

I'm pretty much just reading e-books now. That said, I have to admit that I've got a couple series that I've still bought the hardcover for because I've already got the whole other series that way, and I'd kinda like the set to be complete. That said, I've also been looking at the bookshelves in my house pondering how much space I could reclaim if I started packing away or getting rid of the duplicates.

[CelestialSong]

I almost exclusively read e-books now. I'll still get the occasional physical book from the library but I far prefer e-books. In fact, pre-e-book era I wasn't much of a reader at all, and now that I have a Kindle I read much more often. I just find it so much easier and more convenient that it's really gotten me into reading much more than before.

[shanghaichica]

When I first got an eReader I made a conscious decision not to buy/ read paperbooks, as I felt that I needed to get the value out of my purchase. However over time I grew to naturally prefer ebooks over pbooks. I haven't read a physical book for about 18 months and I don't miss them.

[idraw22]

Hi,


I'm trying to commit to ebooks, I have a rule that if I need to buy a pbook (like a manual or a learn to book) that I have to give one of my pbooks away. I don't have the space! I still browse bookstores tho. They have ereaders in there, and you can try them out while you're there. Also, if there's an book that's there, that I'd like in ebook format, I can browse it there first.

[jj2me]

For me, the progression to preferring ebooks only occurred recently when I got a Sony PRS-350. Sony 505, nope. Kindle 3, nope. Don't know why, probably a mix of small size/weight, maybe touchscreen, maybe the overall feel of it including its size and TPU skin.

Still prefer pbooks for reference and technical books that I thumb around a lot and bookmark pages with yellow stickies.

[CWatkinsNash]

Since getting my Kindle almost exactly a year ago, I've read ebooks almost exclusively except for cookbooks and non-fiction that is illustrated or heavily formatted. I did recently buy the 13th Dresden Files book in hardcover because I wanted it on my shelf - I've all the others in e-format. When it comes to basic text on a page, I have no desire to read paper.

But, I still love my p-book collection and have no intention of getting rid of any paper books.

[beppe]

Pbooks for non fiction mostly. Like cooking books in strange languages that are not available as ebooks. There is this new Scandinavian cooking that is in fashion, for good reasons, btw.
I like to read the printed version when I have to read fast, like when we were discussing the Master and Marguerite in one of the bookclubs and I was behind with the schedule. The printed version lets me jump ahead more easily to follow a particular thread. Temporarily. Creative reading

Cookbooks in eform are very handy in the kitchen. Either I keep them up on the ipad, or, better, I calibre them in rtf and put the recipes in Evernote, for easier reference. I even got a fancy book holder for the kitchen (that works marvels with the ipad also), with much myrth of the two primitive (in the sense of cooking) she persons that share my cooking, and enjoy it. You should see how they feed themselves when I am away on a trip.

[hardgainer]

I read both ebooks and pb's. Why? Different circumstances. To work i'd take pb,due to conditions we have there really inappropriate for e-readers(engineering environment) . To the bath also (i wouldn't like kindle slipped out of my hand) When i read in bed or at the table or on the settee i prefer ebook. So i still troll for a used paperbacks in local charity shops and in general i do prefer to have an actual copy of anything i read on my kindle. But yes whenever it's possible i read in my kindle,it lighter has built in dictionary and can store some books for a future read
Sooo... If i had device which is virtually indestructible (like philips toughbook or olympus camera) i'd read in such device all the time without any fear to drop it or to harm it any other way but as for now i see that in many cases pb's a tougher than any of these e devices especially when it comes to children.

[ragwitch]

I prefer pbooks for reference and mostly non-fiction stuff. For novels I'd go for electronic formats, epub specifically.

[Huey4prez]

If I read a great eBook than I'll buy the hardcopy to add to my collection too. I used to do the same for library books.

[mayoi]

I only buy a pbook now if it's either not available as an ebook, or a used copy is less expensive than the ebook.