Books vs E-Readers

[barryem]

I did my first ereading with unformatted text files. Later on the Palm Pilot where the files were still essentially plain text, although compressed into .pdb files. Then formatted books came along but there was very little formatting. I never really noticed any of this.

I'm not sure now but I think the very first ereading I did was without proportional fonts, even.

I'm sure that in those days there were people who cared about such things but in lots of discussions on forums I can't recall much discussion about it, if any. It obviously wasn't an important issue.

I do think Meera makes a good point that in this forum those things are going to be discussed more than in a book forum.

Barry

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by barryem

I've been thinking about this thread a bit and it occurs to me that one of the things that's come from the move from paper books to ereaders is finicky readers. I read paper books for about 55 or 60 years before I got my first ereader. I never once, or almost never, cared about the font, the font size, the page margins, the line spacing, etc. Except when one of these features presented some issue, and that was very rare, I wasn't even aware of them.

The reason why people care about things such as font type, size, spacing and margins is because many specifically move to e-readers because of these functions. Therefore, if they don't work (well enough), or the book messes with them, that causes aggravation.

There are a few reasons why I moved to e-readers, mostly:
- Font size, type, weight, margins, spacing
- Each book has the same size, be it 300 pages or 5000
- Saves a lot of space

Now, I read my 'normal' books on an e-reader. I only buy paper books if:
- It's a favorite, and even then, it has to be special, such as being illustrated
- It's a textbook/reference book/study book
- I really, really want it (such as History of Middle Earth) and no ebooks exist (or the series isn't complete).

[E.M.DuBois]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Or the bug turns the page for you.

You'd think they'd be considerate enough to do so. But no, the shallow, self-centered bastards buzz around either in my face demanding attention or land right in the middle of the sentence my eyes are going over, totally breaking my rhythm.

[Tarana]

The best thing about books is that it is much easier to get back to a spot that you want to refer to because you have that position memory. For instance, when I'm looking for a recipe, I know about where in the book I found it. Can't do that so easily with an ereader UNLESS you know where it is.

The second good thing is referencing several books at once. You can do it on the computer, more or less, but not so easily with an ereader.

However, no choice. I can't read most books outside of cookbooks and craft books unless the text is bigger, so just have to make do.

[ekbell]

I've dealt with the referencing problem by using two reading devices and multiple reading apps but I agree that it's cumbersome. On the other hand there's a set of 4 paper books that I'm reading (one main, three commentary) and it's better described as differently cumbersome rather then less cumbersome.

if only the Faithlife(Noet/Verbum/Logos...) platform allowed the import of epubs :-(

[SigilBear]

Originally Posted by Anabella

I admit that ereaders are very convenient and eco friendly and so on... but a real book has something in it... the smell of old pages (and new too, but it's different). My mom still keeps some books given to her by some friends (they used to sign it). I usually read old classics on paper, though almost never buy phisical books these days.

Bingo.

I remember, when I was a kid, finding an ancient book about natural history in the attic. I think it was published about 1850, and it had some really cool illustrations of the Arctic, the tropics, etc.

The weird thing is, I'm so plugged in to the Internet today, I can hardly remember what it feels like to hold a book. I suspect that a lot of younger people have little concept of what a book is and therefore don't share our nostalgia for them.

[Lemurion]

So books vs. electronic bookshelves?

I'd rather have an electronic bookshelf loaded with content than just one book.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

So books vs. electronic bookshelves?

I'd rather have an electronic bookshelf loaded with content than just one book.

Both have their uses I would think.

[E.M.DuBois]

Originally Posted by barryem

I did my first ereading with unformatted text files. Later on the Palm Pilot where the files were still essentially plain text, although compressed into .pdb files. Then formatted books came along but there was very little formatting. I never really noticed any of this.

My first e-reading was on sites like fanfiction.net followed by writerscafe.org, both of which I was soon writing stories for. But I did so by first writing them out on paper, then typing them up. As someone who grew up with evolving tech, learning it as it developed while also being taught traditional techniques in school, I learned to like both, not one or the other. I think that's just the way it is. Every generation will mostly prefer the way they were taught to do something, like how they learned to read and write, even as they learn new ways. It's like a safety-net. I'm not saying people can't change with the times, but the "old-ways" will just hold a certain level of comfort. I have a bookshelf here in my apartment that's full (and no, I'm not bragging. I know some people here probably have entire libraries) and I also have a good sized library on my phone. I can switch back and forth.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by E.M.DuBois

Every generation will mostly prefer the way they were taught to do something, like how they learned to read and write, even as they learn new ways. It's like a safety-net. I'm not saying people can't change with the times, but the "old-ways" will just hold a certain level of comfort.

I don't think it's a generation thing. I started to read e-books as late as 2011, and I'm old enough to have grown up before the internet era. Nevertheless I read almost exclusively e-books, the only exceptions being books with many color photos/pictures. I have never felt the slightest temptation to read a paper novel since I bought my first Kindle. OTOH, there are plenty of young people who don't read e-books at all, only paper.

[barryem]

I live in a retirement home in a small town of 3,000 people. Until very recently we haven't had a bookstore here. In Houston, where I lived most of my life, we had bookstores all around us; used bookstores, new ones, big ones, small ones, all over the place.

Yesterday I found that we have a bookstore in town now. It's a fairly conventional small new book store and it seems they're doing well enough that they've bought a larger store across the street and are decorating it to move in there to have more room and even serve coffee and put in easy chairs.

Unfortunately it's about a mile and a half away, mostly uphill from me, and at 76 walking there is unrealistic. I don't have a car. None of my neighbors with cars care about bookstores.

But I do have a Kindle so I'm still okay.

I read ebooks exclusively now because it's convenient and inexpensive and my old eyes need a slightly larger font. I suspect if that bookstore was a block away I'd make it a regular destination just because I like bookstores but I doubt I'd buy anything there other than coffee. It really would be nice to have a quiet place like that to sit and read if they didn't mind me reading my Kindle.

Still, I'm pretty excited that this thing is here and doing well. The fact is that I love to read and bookstores used to be a very nice part of the reading experience. I feel a lot of sentimental attachment to them.

But it's not books or bookstores or Kindles or Kobos that are truly important to me. It's reading and all of these things are just ways to read. They're really nice in and of themselves but it's reading that matters; not books or devices or stores. Not Paper or e-ink. Not stores or websites. It's words moving into my brain. It's the story, the absorption, the fun that matters. It's the communication from the author to me.

Barry

[spindlegirl]

My kindle has re-turned me into a reader. I'm still not a "bookworm" - I used to sort of identify as one when I was a child, but as an adult I didn't really find many new authors that I read. plus life, and other interests kind of wedged out the amount of time I wanted to spend reading. I would read and re-read Anne of Green Gables and other favorites, because I had a low threshold for books that I didn't just *love*. So I am trying to expand my repertoire. I am indeed thankful for the MR library and public domain sites like Gutenberg, because I can revisit old favorites all the time. Calibre was my first "e-reader" as I would read anything I could get my hands on from those two sites.

But being able to carry around old favorites all the time and new books I have not yet read, hundreds of them, on a single device that fits in my purse, there's nothing like it.

[FireWat]

Ereaders is great but I still prefer book much more

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I don't think it's a generation thing. I started to read e-books as late as 2011, and I'm old enough to have grown up before the internet era. Nevertheless I read almost exclusively e-books, the only exceptions being books with many color photos/pictures. I have never felt the slightest temptation to read a paper novel since I bought my first Kindle. OTOH, there are plenty of young people who don't read e-books at all, only paper.

This. Although I will always have a few paper books on my shelves for sentimental reasons, I totally prefer ebooks as a senior citizen. I mostly sold off my paper books as I purchased ebook replacements. (Glad I did a lot of that before Agency pricing....)

I'm of the generation that grew up prior to things like smartphones, tablets, wifi, internet.

Paper books are now purchased only if I want to digitize them! Like some of my father's childhood books. Or mine.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

My kindle has re-turned me into a reader. I'm still not a "bookworm" - I used to sort of identify as one when I was a child, but as an adult I didn't really find many new authors that I read. plus life, and other interests kind of wedged out the amount of time I wanted to spend reading. I would read and re-read Anne of Green Gables and other favorites, because I had a low threshold for books that I didn't just *love*. So I am trying to expand my repertoire. I am indeed thankful for the MR library and public domain sites like Gutenberg, because I can revisit old favorites all the time. Calibre was my first "e-reader" as I would read anything I could get my hands on from those two sites.

But being able to carry around old favorites all the time and new books I have not yet read, hundreds of them, on a single device that fits in my purse, there's nothing like it.

I never read Anne of Green Gables as a child, but finally read the series recently, oh, my I enjoyed it!

I *am* a bookworm through and through tho.

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