Bought my first ereader and I miss real books already!

[gmw]

A great thread - so much so I decided to join up and add my bit.

I have been fascinated with the different perspectives on reading shown by the people on this list. I was surprised that so many of you seem effectively indifferent to the medium. I have revelled in books since I was a kid. Real books that I could feel, and smell and flick through. Books on shelves that I could stare at and reminisce about. Shelves and shelves of books that I could sit back and stare at and see which one wanted to jump out at me today.

But just a week ago I got a Sony Reader (650). The big reason for it was that there are lots and lots of books on places like Project Gutenberg that I want to try, books that are either very hard to get on paper or that I am not sure I'll like enough to make the space for on my shelves. But there was also something noted by several on here: the strain on the wrist when reading large hardcovers. I've got collections of H.G.Wells, Charles Dickens and more in beautiful but huge and heavy hardcovers ... so right now I'm reading "The War of the Worlds" off my reader.

It has been interesting to compare the experience. Yes this reader is much lighter than the multi-volume tome on the bookshelf, but as yet I still have to train my hand to hold the device comfortably - trying not to accidentally touch the touch screen etc (not a big deal but not the immediate comfort I always find with a paperback). I thought that being able to choose font sizes would be good - but the device is much too limited in that respect (and I think I need to get my eyes/glasses checked). When I came across a word I did not remember, a quick double-tap on the screen gave me the meaning - that was very nice. But when I wanted to flick back to the front to check on something ... I guess that's something you eventually learn to do better or learn not to want to do.

Overall the ebook reader experience is quite good I think, but I have to say that I do still miss the paper - even the big heavy tome. With a paper book there is an experience that goes with the medium. An experience of passing from the beginning to the end that is so literal with a paper book. Many of my favourite books get purchased in hardcover and so there is also a sense of "special" that goes with reading them (the very awkward size and weight imparts its own element to the experience). With paperbacks there is that constant feel in your hands that varies from book to book. Each book becomes a friend, each different with its own history.

I'm guessing I will get to like my Sony Reader more the more I use it but I firmly believe that any books I really love will still find their way onto my shelves of paper books ... because yes, I would miss my friends if they were not there on the shelves to keep me company.

[GreenMonkey]

I prefer hardcover books to ebooks. But I prefer ebooks to paperback books.

At least a hardcover stays open if you want to put it on the table and read it while you're eating or whatever. Paperbacks almost require two hands at all times (at least for someone that reads as fast as I read) and are much less durable.

But I prefer physical books to DRM'd books. So I still buy real books. Normally used books - they are also much cheaper, and if I don't like them, I can trade them back in for a buck or two in credit at my local used bookstore.

My e-reader is for free books, copyright expired books, and downloaded digital copies of books I already own (I have no personal moral issues with this).

No reason you can't still do both.

[Lo Zeno]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

I get the impression that for many people here, for the most part, books=fiction.

In my case it's not exactly all fiction, but close. Most of my non-fiction books are history books, guides for programming languages, and electronics books, and those books are, luckily for me, often available in PDF or other electronic format. Especially the programming languages guides.

However, I don't understand why some people bother storing large numbers of e-books on their readers. Is it to impress people who don't own a reader?

Well, I don't store my ebooks in my reader... I store them in my PC's hard drive. I put in my reader what I plan to read, or what I might want to read in the close future. For example, if I leave for a two-week vacation I make sure to have at least 20 or so ebooks to choose from, knowing that I will read at least 7-8 books in those two weeks.

Most of the time, once I have read an ebook I do not delete it from the reader, but that's not meant to impress anyone: it's simply because the reader can hold a huge amount of ebooks, and until I run out of space I don't care about deleting stuff

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by gmw

A great thread - so much so I decided to join up and add my bit.
....

Welcome to MR. Thanks for sharing your perspective. For me to it was the availability of classics that finally brought me in (after actually following/studying the technology for a decade).

Free Books:
Project Guttenberg
Google Books
Feedbooks
and of course here on MR.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Welcome to MR. Thanks for sharing your perspective. For me to it was the availability of classics that finally brought me in (after actually following/studying the technology for a decade).

Free Books:
Project Guttenberg
Google Books
Feedbooks
and of course here on MR.

I could not agree more. I had the extreme good fortune to buy my Nook the week before B&N started giving away 12 classics a week with good introductions and footnotes. As such, I had more than 100 free books that I would have sought out on PG or FB anyway.

One of my formative childhood experiences was watching Star Trek with my dad. Campy as hell now, but it was the coolest thing going 20 years ago. But I recall being very jealous of the characters who could cary a whole library on a datapad. After years of having to have a separate bag for all the books I wanted to take with me on trips, nevermind how many books I had to haul around for my english major, e-readers were literally a childhood dream come true.

I came to e-reading through my palm pilot, and stuck with it until i took the actual e-reader plunge earlier this year. After having replaced almost my entire library, i've never looked back.

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by gmw

Books on shelves that I could stare at and reminisce about. Shelves and shelves of books that I could sit back and stare at and see which one wanted to jump out at me today.

My book shelves are still with me. Mostly holding junk that I should probably throw away.

But, yes, they did look good filled up.

Originally Posted by gmw

It has been interesting to compare the experience. Yes this reader is much lighter than the multi-volume tome on the bookshelf, but as yet I still have to train my hand to hold the device comfortably - trying not to accidentally touch the touch screen etc (not a big deal but not the immediate comfort I always find with a paperback).

Get yourself a book cover. You won’t believe the difference that it'll make.

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

... I think that I've seen somewhere on MR someone having more that 15,000 books on their reader ...

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

... in a doctors office ...

Naturally

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

Get yourself a book cover. You won’t believe the difference that it'll make.

I totally agree. I can hardly use my Kindle without the cover. With the leather cover it feels like a real book and is much nicer to use. I thought that the ease of removal was a plus on the official cover, until I started using it, then I realized that I never remove it. I'm also much more comfortable carrying it around since I'm able to close it up when I'm carrying it.

[floridamom]

I don't see it as an either-or. There are some books I don't care to own, and will continue to borrow from the library. And it's already been said that not all books are well suited to the ebook format. However, I love my ereader, and have no regrets.

As for the beauty of books, for me that's in the words (especially concerning fiction). A good read will be a good read whether it's printed on paper or delivered wirelessly to my device. The reverse of course, is also true.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by twowheels

I totally agree. I can hardly use my Kindle without the cover. With the leather cover it feels like a real book and is much nicer to use. I thought that the ease of removal was a plus on the official cover, until I started using it, then I realized that I never remove it. I'm also much more comfortable carrying it around since I'm able to close it up when I'm carrying it.

I concur!

[gmw]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

But, yes, they did look good filled up.

But it is more than appearance. A shelf full of books that you've read and enjoyed is also a shelf full of memory - it has an immediate visual and emotional impact when you look along it. That's not something you can get from a list on a computer. (I'm a programmer, I'm not being anti-technology, just trying to describe something that may well be indescribable.)

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

Get yourself a book cover. You won’t believe the difference that it'll make.

I do have a cover, and yes, I am very pleased to have it. I think the device would be close to unusable without it. But my wife finally put her finger on the problem. Even with the cover the balance is wrong. It's like you are constantly reading the first page of a paper-book (always the most awkward part of a paper book). I am guessing the sensation will eventually go, but that is what it feels like now.

[Gunnerp245]

Originally Posted by stodge

about a new, unread paperback and I felt pangs of guilt and regret. Does anyone else feel the same way?

No....

[SameOldStory]

Please, Gunner. Keep it short.

[laughingdragons]

No guilt here!

Once I got my first reader over a year ago I was hooked. I bought it for a plane ride originally. Because of my reader I read so much more now. How else can you go from book to book in seconds no matter where you are?

I didn't read as much with books because you have to go to the store and browse and buy. Plus I'd only buy one or two at time it's just a pain in the neck. I do buy Recipe books still that is one thing I don't like as ebooks.

I've gotten a second reader since my first I did have a sony 300 I now have a sony 350.

There should be no guilt with reading.

[dordale]

I love my reader(s), but I love pbooks too! I see no reason to give up pbooks just because I have a reader. I probably do about 50% of my reading on my reader--the other part of the time I'm reading pbooks. I'm usually reading at least two books at once--many times more. Though almost always I have at least one pbook and one ebook going at once.

If I had to give up one or the other I'm pretty sure I'd give up pbooks--ebooks are just too convenient for taking with you anywhere you go. But I'm very glad it's not an either/or decision!!

dordale