What is it with people and their paper books?

[Freeshadow]

My husband insists on buying books he'll never read, solely for the ability to show off

*sigh* and I tought such poeple would only exist in jokes. really. how poor and sad.
sorry but I had to say that

Originally Posted by HarryT

I have a number of books that are several hundred years old

that's awesome - really antic gems. my grats and a light flush of envy.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I love eBooks, but, on the other hand, there's something about a well-made book that's very satisfying too. I have a number of books that are several hundred years old - several with many owners' signatures in them, and it gives me a real feeling of "continuity" to know that I'm reading the very same book that was being enjoyed by someone 300 years ago. I often wonder who those people were, and what kind of lives they led.

I do love beautiful old books. Sadly my dust and mold allergies prevent me from fully enjoying them. I have an old anthology of the complete works of Shakespeare that once belonged to a teacher. It's not hundreds of years old like your prized volumes. It's about 50. Still, it has her notes in the margins. It's such a treat. It has some newspaper clippings folded in the pages. She loved this book. It was obviously something she turned to on a refular basis. You can practically see her hands on the cover. I wonder why her family didn't keep it. I feel honored to have it. I've gotten rid of most of my public domain books but I'd never part with this one. Sadly, I can only spend a few minutes with it at a time before my eyes are red and I'm sneezing. I have to wash my hands right after I handle it. I wish I could have something of her experience with the volume without the trouble that comes from the physical medium.

[HithNibth]

To those who can't feel why paper books are important - it must difficult to understand. The magic spell of books and reading them, was cast over me as a child. They were bright (Most children's books were and still are) and full of adventure. I felt a joy in having books around me. I'd sit in bed with one book open and have the others piled, comfortingly around me. This joy in books and reading has never left me, but books mean even more now. They are the key to my youth. As I read, I remember distinctly the way I felt as a child. I can even remember specific moments of my youth, when a story moved me or even when I first opened a new book. I feel lucky that the magic has not worn off. The child in me stays around to read more books (grin). That is why, of course I keep re-reading the books I read all those years ago.

There is, I must add, a kind of magic about ebooks too. The magic there is, maybe, a little less romantic but it is is magical. It seems to revolve around that pile of books on the bed, huddled close - waiting to be read or dipped into. When you are reading an ebook there is that comforting feeling of knowing that your (virtual) pile of books is limitless. So many of us now can hold in one hand more books than fill the shelves of our local libraries. Hope this helps you understand.

Bri

[Ben Thornton]

I always liked cuneiform writing in stone. It has a tactile quality, a permanence, that you just don't get with papyrus. How much papyrus is there going to be left around when the new temples are as old as the old ones are now?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

I always liked cuneiform writing in stone. It has a tactile quality, a permanence, that you just don't get with papyrus. How much papyrus is there going to be left around when the new temples are as old as the old ones are now?

Er, cuneiform is actually written on clay tablets, not stone. You write it with a wedge-shaped reed stylus (hence the name, from Latin "cuneus" - "wedge") pressed into the wet clay.

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Er, cuneiform is actually written on clay tablets, not stone. You write it with a wedge-shaped reed stylus (hence the name, from Latin "cuneus" - "wedge") pressed into the wet clay.

We went to the museum a few days ago, mostly for the robot dinosaurs, but I liked the ancient section where they had the stone floor of a temple with cuneiform writing on it. I'm aware that most of such writing was done by pressing into clay - but it wasn't all.

Anyway, my point was that technologies move on. Well-made things using older technologies are great, but that doesn't mean that we should continue to use them for new.

[HithNibth]

I just love reading Ben. Paper or Puter. My paper books help tp keep me fit too. Only this afternoon I've been climbing up and down from the loft - bringing down piles of books that I haven't read in quite a while. Happy Reading!

Bri

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

Anyway, my point was that technologies move on. Well-made things using older technologies are great, but that doesn't mean that we should continue to use them for new.

But new technology is often not better than old. It can be worse or it can be as good but different. So just because something is new is not a reason to start using it.

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by tompe

But new technology is often not better than old. It can be worse or it can be as good but different. So just because something is new is not a reason to start using it.

Quite so - I didn't mean that we should adopt new things for the sake of newness.

All I'm suggesting is that to describe the positive attributes of previous technologies - such as a love for old books (which I share) - is not to make much of an argument for retaining them for future requirements.

[JeremyZ]

Originally Posted by tompe

But new technology is often not better than old. It can be worse or it can be as good but different. So just because something is new is not a reason to start using it.

Well phrased. I hadn't considered the physical work-out point-of-view. As a whole, I bet we avid readers could afford to lose a few pounds.

[cleanskin]

I'm all for new technology. But with my short time of owning a Kindle DX Graphite, I have found that a paperback still provides a superior reading experience. And it is not just because paper still has better contrast than a Pearl e-ink screen.

Formatting is the biggest issue I have with Kindle e-books. The variety of fonts a publisher uses in a paperback are gone. Without different fonts, font size changes are confusing. Many times you will read one paragraph in one font size, directly followed by a paragraph with a larger font with no space in between. You end up seeing one block of text with two font sizes.

The spacing between paragraphs and margin sizes are changed from the original. Headers and footers are missing. Superscript and subscript are ignored. The list goes on. Basically, all the formatting techniques the publisher implements to make the text a pleasurable reading experience in the original book are stripped from the contents. All that is left are the words on the page, divided into paragraphs, and retain basic punctuation such as quotes, commas, and periods.

These are my experiences from my short time owning the Kindle this past month and from downloading books through Whispernet.

Interestingly enough, I was able to come across pdf versions for a couple of these same books. The pdf retains all of the original formatting of the paperback. The reading experience with the pdf are actually almost as good as reading a paperback (aside from the lack of contrast on the screen). I sincerely hope Amazon can upgrade their .asw format to replicate what is found on the pages the paperback versions.

Otherwise, Amazon's current high pricing and poor formatting of e-books outweighs the portability benefit of an e-reader for me and it really only makes sense to stick with paperbacks.

[DMB]

Paper books since the early 19th century don't last at all well. Older books that were printed on better-quality paper are a different matter. Libraries have a constant problem with the conservation of books. So I don't think we can assume that paper technology will last all that well. Peperback books that I bought 50 years ago are getting in a bad state. I have replaced many of my favourite ones with more modern editions.

But there is something very special about certain copies of books if they had previous owners. I used to buy a lot of books from second-hand bookshops and it was always a thrill to find an inscription saying that the book was a present to someone in 1898 or whenever.

My biggest thrill of this kind was at my Oxford college. The college was left the library of John Stuart Mill -- lots of beautiful 18th-century books. The librarian used to let me borrow them for the vacations. Since I am a great admirer of Mill, it was a wonderful thing for me to be reading some obscure 18th-century book whose last reader could well have been Mill himself.

[Gwen Morse]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

*sigh* and I tought such poeple would only exist in jokes. really. how poor and sad.
sorry but I had to say that

I think I let a brief moment of husband-wife squabbling overshadow the point I actually wanted to make. I'm having to box up some of my husband's books and annoyed he's not available to do it himself.

My husband is a frequent reader. He's just very slow. So, if he buys five books in a month, I know he'll be lucky to get through half of one. The next month, he wants five more and he may or may not have finished the first. It's a perpetual case of biting off more than he can chew. He won't stop buying them, he argues that they look nice and even if he never reads all of them he has a nice library to show off.

I'm a fast reader. If I buy 5 books, I'm pretty much guaranteed to read them in a week. So, I tend to come from the perspective that a library is where you show off what you've already read.

They're different mind-sets, neither of us is "right".

[Dawgmatix]

The reasons why I prefer paper books for my Non fiction professional needs are
a) There are books that I will continue to use and refer to for the rest of my career. I dont know if the ebook vendors in existence will be around in 10+ years. I dont know how long they will support the current book formats. So in some sense for books that I intend to use till I retire having them in a paper form sitting on my bookshelf is something that is reassuring.
b) Price - I buy a lot of my books used on amazon. Its shocking how low a lot of computer science / math books sell for.
c) For most of my reading needs I would require solid pdf and djvu support which seems to be lacking currently in most readers.

[Freeshadow]

@gwen ok this sounds differenty now. I understood your previous post in such way, that yer hubby only wants them to sit on the shelf as deco and actually never intends to read em. (regardless how fast or slow at all)

I'm a fast reader too, so this lead to a nearly complete rejection of hardcovers. (apart from certain omnibus eds. which simply weren't available in PB {best known example LOTR in 1 volume}) I don't see a reason for spending double the money for same the content double the weight.

I tend to come from the perspective that a library is where you show off what you've already read.

They're different mind-sets, neither of us is "right".

yeah right.
I keep the pbooks shot away in closets - less dust accumulation than shelves.
and i re-read them, so it's a point of comfort posessing them, instead of continous pilgrim walks to the library.

books is what i consume for the mind. plainly for myself.
for me there's as much sense in showing them off, as i 'd be doing it with the contents of my fridge.

If someone is interested... you're welcome to open the door and browse. (as long as they stay inhouse)