paper books versus ebooks

[LadyKate]

I started reading ebooks in about 1998 or 99.Prior to ebooks I would often have to carry two books when going out as I would be near the end of one book and not wanting to be without a book to read once finished.

Since moving to Quebec where the libraries and second hand book stores are rather lacking in english fiction I find my ebook collection even more important. Over the last fifteen or sixteen years I have collected way too many ebooks and would be totally lost without calibre.

I find reading in the dark on my tablet to be much more relaxing than reading a paper book with the lights on lol.

The only bookd I have in paper format these days tend to be technical ones not available in eformat.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I meant that I never had to fix layouts in paper books

I have read paper books where the font was way too small, and I remember once accidentally getting a large print book at the library, which had a font so large it was distracting and I returned it.

[pastanley]

I hold on to my hard copy books for a few years mainly for sentimental reasons. Sometimes when im bored I will pick up a used book and reread certain chapters. I only have about 25 hard copy books. Most of those will be recycled at my local used book store. I will probably only keep about 8.

[peachiekene]

I greatly prefer ebooks.

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

If I have an e-book copy, the hard copy is gone. I have some nice hardback books that I have kept.

This is the same for me.
The only exception is for "younger audience" books that I'm keeping around for my kids. That may change since we have two eink readers in the house and I'm planning on having the older one be for the kids.

I also like being able to carry my whole library. I have tried carrying more then one book with me, but at some point it was just too heavy to deal with. I am usually reading more than one book at a time - so it's nice to be able to read what I'm in the mood for as opposed to "this is the one I'm tackling the most right now".

The only thing I miss about p-books is the ability to *really* share them.

On the other hand --- all the reading devices in my home are connected to my accounts. So all of us could read the same thing at the same time if we wanted.

As for people outside the home...
I have done the "lend me" feature a grand total of twice. I know there are websites where people can meet up for loans, but so few publishers allow it (and it's a one time only thing) that I find it to be a real hassle to deal with especially since loaning isn't allowed cross-platforms.

That being said, I never really loaned out my p-books.

[Tarana]

The only thing I miss about p-books is the ability to *really* share them.

I agree about this, but then I didn't know anybody outside of my family who read scifi or fantasy. I share my ebooks with my Mom, sibs and cousins. I've joined two of those 'lending' groups, but nobody had any interest in what I had. It seems membership is dominated by those who want general fiction or paranormal, neither of which I'm big on.

What I mostly miss about paperbacks is to be able to quickly go back to reread something. It's a lot harder to find that spot in an ebook than with a paperback because of what I guess would be 'physical' memory.

[ProfCrash]

This is the same for me.
The only exception is for "younger audience" books that I'm keeping around for my kids. That may change since we have two eink readers in the house and I'm planning on having the older one be for the kids.

Yup, LM is 18 months and has a ton of board books and a full shelf on the bookshelf filled with books for the age 2-older. He inheritied a lot of his cousins books for night time reading before he hits the chapter book stage. And I need to be better about not using the iPad infront of him because he really wants to use it.

As for the books from grad school, I kept the full works of important authors. The text books I sold when I left academia, that made me many thousands of dollars. It helped pay for the move. If they were to become available as e-books, I would probably add them as e-books.

I would love for more journals to move to ebook format as well, but such is life. If I wanted to, I could download the PDFs at the library, come home, convert them, and add them to my ereader. But that is far too much work.

[Dngrsone]

I pick up books at the thrift store, and so I have quick the collection of cheap TBR in paper form.

I have a lot of paperbacks in my collection still-- I hold on to them until I have fully read the e-book version to make sure there aren't any errors that have to be addressed-- I've gotten some ebooks where pages were missing or a spelling is suspect and I want to see if the print version had a different spelling and such (largely a sci-fi/fan problem).

[taosaur]

I suspect my next move will see most of my paper fiction donated. I can count on one hand how many DTBs I've read in the four years I've been reading ebooks. Now, I do still pull some nonfiction off the shelf for reference, though I could probably shed about half of that collection, too. At this point my bookshelves are 95% decor.

[Rime]

On my next move, I'll probably purge all of the fiction books I also have in eformat, buy (reasonably priced) replacements for the others, and send the rest to the chop shop for future conversion to ebook.

Non fiction I'll keep in paper, especially the cookbooks. I love food porn.

As nice as books look all lined up on the shelf, they still have to be dusted ( mind, the leafblower on low works a treat ). Things eat them ( not just the puppy ) and the old bad paper turns yellow and brittle and flakes away.

[montalex]

I worked in a book store when I was young, and obsessively collected books. Books I particularly liked, I purchased in hardcover. At on point, I stored about 2,000 books in the basement of my mother's house. When she sold her house, I was across the border in Canada, and could not afford to move the books to my new home (where I had easily another 2,000). I went down, intending to take them to a used bookstore, but the bookstore was closed. I left them on the street, cutting open the boxes to display the contents. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon. I did salvage a couple of boxes of my favorites. I, of course, have accumulated many, many more paper books, which fill large bookcases in my house. However, since the advent of ebooks, I've purchased perhaps 5 books. I have over 2,000 ebooks, which are backed up in several ways. I'm not going to lose my books again!

Perhaps the only thing I prefer about paper books is their physical presence on my bookshelves. I like to browse them and be reminded of what I've read, and see what I have yet to read. I've read hundreds of ebooks, and I've forgotten so many of them, whereas, paper books I notice and open when the spirit moves me. I much prefer reading on my Kindle, though.

[mws]

I have begun to get rid of a lot of my paper books, with one exception. I usually buy a paper book when it contains diagrams (I'm into electronics), as I have had bad experiences with eBooks and diagrams on my Nook HD. The diagrams don't size well, and are unreadable. Otherwise, I prefer to buy the eBooks. The downside is sharing an eBook, which I think needs changes in the law.

--
Mike

[leebase]

I gave away a couple of large trash can sized bags of books to a friend years ago. Haven't looked back.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by Victoria

GreenMoney - just curious - but why would you buy hardcovers of favourite authors, if the ebook is available? What advantages would the hardcover / paper books have for you?

Hardcovers will last forever. No tech worries. I know I'll be re-reading them in 30 or 40 years, god knows if an epub will work on a device 30 years from now.

And I can hopefully get them signed at some point!

No tech issues/worries and they still work if my device isn't charged.

Easier to see maps and pictures (sometimes that kind of stuff is very hard to see on an ereader).

They're pretty.

There's no DRM (goes back to point 1). Not that I don't strip it anyway but I've got ideological issues with buying something and being punished with restrictions that don't exist with paper books. Spending $$ on DRM supports it.

And as a bonus, if it's a new release and I don't want to wait (the case with my favorite authors), often the hardcover is cheaper, or at least, about the same price.

[Salgueiros]

I do prefer paper books to ebooks, even though i have lots of ebooks.

I was curiously in the same situation of the original poster, since i also moved (to Vancouver, from Ottawa) and i sold or gave away pretty much everything, but NOT my collection of paper books. The guys from the moving company were very happy, since they weight a lot, compared to the space they occupy.

Some of the books i consider not worthy are easy get rid of, but some are simply too precious, rare and valuable (intellectually and sentimentally, not monetarily) to give away.

[Salgueiros]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

Hardcovers will last forever. No tech worries. I know I'll be re-reading them in 30 or 40 years, god knows if an epub will work on a device 30 years from now.

And I can hopefully get them signed at some point!

No tech issues/worries and they still work if my device isn't charged.

Easier to see maps and pictures (sometimes that kind of stuff is very hard to see on an ereader).

They're pretty.

There's no DRM (goes back to point 1). Not that I don't strip it anyway but I've got ideological issues with buying something and being punished with restrictions that don't exist with paper books. Spending $$ on DRM supports it.

And as a bonus, if it's a new release and I don't want to wait (the case with my favorite authors), often the hardcover is cheaper, or at least, about the same price.

Very good points, indeed.

The point with figures and maps is particularly pertinent for people who read lots of nonfiction or History books, since i have never read an ebook without having a less satisfying experience when compared to the paper book. Besides, going back and forth to see a map in the first pages while you are reading a chapter halfway through the ebook is a pain...

I also agree that as a design object, a good paper book is way more beautiful, well thought and adequate to its function than a ebook, or a ebook reader, even though ebook readers have come a long way. I am never as pleased with any ebook as I am with a paper book in the field (ebook is purely functional, while paper books are a bit more than that).

From my experience, the editing, layout, and visual experience of a ebook has not been a priority of the publishers i have bought ebooks from. I find it not good at all in most cases, while in paper books it is the opposite, it is a minority the cases i can say that a paper book i bought was bad in those fields.

Another thing i like to see in my books is handwritten notes, and making those in an ebook, though possible, are not as easy, immediate, and good looking as they are in a paper book. I like to see handriting (mine or other people's in case it is a used book) in the margins of a good book. I find it a great frame for a nice text. And if the notes are insightful and intelligent, even better.