Don't Own an EBook, Not About to Get One.

[pidgeon92]

I still like going to the bookstore to browse. If I find one I'm interested in, then I buy/borrow (from the library) the ebook. A person can do both. I've never understood why it has to be one or the other.

[kevinp]

Originally Posted by uebyn

The title says it all. Despite the increasing popularity of ebooks, I refuse to buy one. Not because devices are expensive, not because I am biased against ebooks, but because of the way I discover books.

So, why did you join "Mobile"Read? Just to stir up controversy?

[david_e]

Why did I switch?

First reason, I prefer a digital lifestyle. I started with my music and iTunes. Then, as movies and tv shows became available, that was the next step. Now, books, magazines and newspapers have been the final step.

Second, I don't like a lot of clutter, almost to the point of being a minimalist. We only have three physical books in the house, two books that were life-changing for me that I've had since I was a teen, and my husband's bible. Everything else got donated to charity.

Third, I'm a bit of a recluse / agoraphobe. Add to that the fact I read two or more books a day and ebooks and some type of reader are an absolute necessity. I can browse as easily as I ever did in a B&M bookstore, Amazon is very good about having pages of similar books somewhere in the middle of the current page. That's just like browsing by cover or title in a B&M. I pick what looks interesting and get a sample sent. If I like the sample, I buy it.

[hrosvit]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I like to read books. Pure and simple. I don't care about holding them, sniffing them, feeling their texture, locating them, talking to other people who are trying to locate them, lovingly perusing their spines/covers, or leaving them in conspicuous places so people can notice them and hopefully be impressed with my impeccable tastes.

+1.

I used to enjoy the occasional stroll through the book store, but only because it led to me being able to then take a book home and read the damn thing. The browsing is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

And when you add to this the fact that millions of books are now available for me to purchase at any time, from (almost) anywhere, and they then immediately appear on my device, as well as the fact that when I travel I can carry (nearly) every book I own with me, and can pick from any one of them when I wish to read, it's a no-brainer.


Now, I think I'll stroll on down to the Ford forums and ask why the hell those people don't just ride horses...

[Hellmark]

For me, convenience. Where I lived, I didn't have access to a library (there was no county library, only town libraries, and I lived in an unincorporated area, so wasn't allowed to use it), and the nearest bookstore of any size was 25 miles away (the only thing closer was Walmart, or a Sam Goody. The SG closed not that long after I moved there, and the walmart's book selection was horrible). Much of the books I started reading when I first got into eBooks were public domain, from places like MobileRead or Project Gutenberg, so they were DRM free, no cost, and in what ever format I wanted.

Now, my wife and I live in a small apartment. We have a 6 foot tall bookshelf filled with books, but that is just a fraction of what we used to have. If we had kept everything we had before we moved in together, it would be wall to wall books, with really no room for us. On a good chunk of those, we converted to digital, so we can still read them.

Plus, I can carry my ebook reader with me everywhere, and always have a good selection of books. It takes up way less room than what one of my books normally would. I keep it in my book bag, or throw it in a coat pocket.

[xg4bx]

I'm stiil 80/20 in favor of paper. I only use the ol' Kindle when a book is only available in digital or if there's a ridiculous price difference i.e. $18 for a trade vs $3 for the ebook.

As with others, I find that there isn't a huge difference between browsing online and browsing in a store. There are two notable exceptions: used book stores are more fun to browse than the online bookstores because they have many titles that didn't make the transition to digital, along with more varied selection (rather than being dominated by the latest releases). The second reason is that flipping through a book in a store gives me more information than downloading a preview, especially for non-fiction titles.

As for why I made the jump: I've spent a couple of years living in communities where books are few and far in between. It would be possible to do mail-order, but ebooks offer more conveniences (ability to review part of a book, ability to access it instantly, easier to transport when travelling/moving).

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by uebyn

The title says it all. Despite the increasing popularity of ebooks, I refuse to buy one. Not because devices are expensive, not because I am biased against ebooks, but because of the way I discover books.

I hardly ever listen to book recommendations by people, around me or in publications like papers or magazines. Coz' I'm too aware how people's tastes vary, and what someone else thinks is a fabulous read may read terrible to me, and vice versa. Of course, there are those books that are so famous you can't help hearing about them, and usually end up reading them to see if they deserve their reputation. Again, it's a matter of taste - for example, I heard so much about Catcher in the Rye, but when I actually read it, I didn't love it. I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite. (I do love Catch-22 though.)

One of my greatest pleasure is to stroll in the bookstore and discovering books - sometimes by their cover, other times by their spines. In any case, I pick up a book, briefly read its synopsis, and if it interests me, I will read the first page. If the first page intrigues me, and I have spare cash, I will buy it on the spot. Sometimes, if I feel like it, I will stop right at a cafe to read the book over a nice cup of coffee. One of the simple pleasures of life...

With ebooks, you don't get that. Searching by keywords on Smashwords? Clicking on 'People who browsed this also bought...' on Amazon? Yeah, helpful, but not enjoyable. A flat experience no different from Googling online.

Why am I still saying this NOW? Precisely because there're so many converts now, I'm wondering: why did you switch to ebooks? Have you forgotten the pleasure of books browsing, or is the e-book experience comparable to that of the old-school experience? Or has convenience displaced experience?

So what exactly are you doing on a website called "mobileread"?

[DianNC]

Originally Posted by uebyn

I'm wondering: why did you switch to ebooks?

To reduce my carbon footprint.

[ucfgrad93]

I switched for several reasons. In no particular order:

1. Can get a book in a minute without wasting gas driving to the store.
2. I can take lots of books with me in a small ereader.
3. Built in dictionary.
4. Don't have to store old books or try to get rid of them.
5. I can find free books for my Kindle.

[MrDoug]

Originally Posted by uebyn

The title says it all. Despite the increasing popularity of ebooks, I refuse to buy one. Not because devices are expensive, not because I am biased against ebooks, but because of the way I discover books.

I hardly ever listen to book recommendations by people, around me or in publications like papers or magazines. Coz' I'm too aware how people's tastes vary, and what someone else thinks is a fabulous read may read terrible to me, and vice versa. Of course, there are those books that are so famous you can't help hearing about them, and usually end up reading them to see if they deserve their reputation. Again, it's a matter of taste - for example, I heard so much about Catcher in the Rye, but when I actually read it, I didn't love it. I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite. (I do love Catch-22 though.)

One of my greatest pleasure is to stroll in the bookstore and discovering books - sometimes by their cover, other times by their spines. In any case, I pick up a book, briefly read its synopsis, and if it interests me, I will read the first page. If the first page intrigues me, and I have spare cash, I will buy it on the spot. Sometimes, if I feel like it, I will stop right at a cafe to read the book over a nice cup of coffee. One of the simple pleasures of life...

With ebooks, you don't get that. Searching by keywords on Smashwords? Clicking on 'People who browsed this also bought...' on Amazon? Yeah, helpful, but not enjoyable. A flat experience no different from Googling online.

Why am I still saying this NOW? Precisely because there're so many converts now, I'm wondering: why did you switch to ebooks? Have you forgotten the pleasure of books browsing, or is the e-book experience comparable to that of the old-school experience? Or has convenience displaced experience?

First Off, the devices are not expensive, ($79 up to $179 for the lastest and greatest) Amazon (Kindle), Nook etc are selling these devices at COST.. cheap actually so they can sell you books, magazines etc... I never would have imagined I could read a book on a e-reader.. I still go to bookstores.. look and handle the books .. go home order on-line.. cheaper and faster.. no waiting in lines etc.. plus i can go home, go to bed, turn off the lights and turn on the glo switch and not bother my wife while reading at nite.. I like.. not for everyone but it's for me.. plus it's a cute gadget..
Doug

[meeera]

Why am I still saying this NOW? Precisely because there're so many converts now, I'm wondering: why did you switch to ebooks? Have you forgotten the pleasure of books browsing, or is the e-book experience comparable to that of the old-school experience? Or has convenience displaced experience?

None of the above. Holding most trade paperbacks hurts, badly, to the point of either being impossible or leaving me in too much pain to read deadtreebooks (or do a lot of other stuff) the next day. Some books have fonts too small for me to read. I'm also fussy about which fonts I am comfortable and happy reading in. Some books I like to buy when they're released, not when they finally turn up in the shops in my country. I like to be able to carry my ereader when I go out, instead of finding a way to lug a giant deadtreebook; and I need to carry more than three or four books when I travel. And lastly, until last year, treebooks were taking over my house and harbouring dust which creates health issues for my family. We have more space and slightly cleaner air now that we only have five full bookcases of treebooks.

One of my greatest pleasure is to stroll in the bookstore and discovering books - sometimes by their cover, other times by their spines.

How nice for you. I can't roll around the bookshops here, they're inaccessible. I can generally get to the front displays of bestsellers, and that's it. Sometimes I can't even access the register counter.

With ebooks, you don't get that. Searching by keywords on Smashwords? Clicking on 'People who browsed this also bought...' on Amazon? Yeah, helpful, but not enjoyable. A flat experience no different from Googling online.

No. I have a large wishlist based mostly on recommendations from friends and partly from reviews from trusted sources. I am lucky to have many literate friends who are voracious readers and read in similar genres to the ones I do.

You're making way, way too many assumptions about, well, everything.

[MrDoug]

Just testing.. 1234.. Roger. Copy.. hope you don't mind.
Doug

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by Katie1

I am like Joe. I got a eReader mostly cause with arthritis & bad eyes I can now actually read again!
Now Why did you come to MR?

Ditto.

Funny thing is that I love buying ebooks much more that I ever enjoyed buying print books. I bought paper books only when I was ready to read them, often in thrift stores, or I would borrow them from the library. Now I spend so much time browsing ebook stores that I have almost 200 ebooks (paid, not free -about a year's worth of reading) on my TBR list. Many are replacements for beloved paper books that I can no longer read. I've probably spent more on ebooks in the last 6 months than I did on paper books in the last 10 years.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

So what exactly are you doing on a website called "mobileread"?

Check some of the OPs other posts. I guess it's OK to sell ebooks, just not to consume them.