Books: Digital or physical?

[rrs9]

I'm a romantic at heart and would feel weird reading something like 'The Great Gatsby' on an e-reader. Although I really have nothing against them.

[Dan]

I'm a romantic at heart and would feel weird reading something like 'The Great Gatsby' on an e-reader.

If the book you read is truly great, the medium on which you read it should soon enough become transparent.

[rrs9]

I'm a romantic at heart and would feel weird reading something like 'The Great Gatsby' on an e-reader.

If the book you read is truly great, the medium on which you read it should soon enough become transparent.

I agree, the book would be just as great. I'm just very particular ahah and see it the same way as I would watching an old classic movie like 'Gone with the Wind' or 'Casablanca' in colour.

[blu333y3s]

I'm a romantic at heart and would feel weird reading something like 'The Great Gatsby' on an e-reader.

If the book you read is truly great, the medium on which you read it should soon enough become transparent.

I agree, the book would be just as great. I'm just very particular ahah and see it the same way as I would watching an old classic movie like 'Gone with the Wind' or 'Casablanca' in colour.

I had this very conversation today visiting Pike Markets in Seattle.. The guy at the second hand book shop (I have a romantic idea of meeting a girl in one) said to me... "yeah this technology is amazing... it can get wet and still works"

Loved it...

There was also something special about visiting the second hand book store, a hodge podge of loved, enjoyed and considered words that were being passed on.. there is not that same sentiment from electronic medium.

[Gman707]

For me i prefer real books. There is something about the feel and smell of a book that makes it easier for me to get lost in the plot. i guess it's an association thing.

[Dan]

For me i prefer real books. There is something about the feel and smell of a book that makes it easier for me to get lost in the plot. i guess it's an association thing.

Yes, because people said the same thing when the printing press arrived: nothing like the feel of a handwritten book.

[Delta]

Yeah, I wonder if back in the day scrolls were met with the same reverence that books are starting to be endowed with now.

[Stuart]

Yeah, I wonder if back in the day scrolls were met with the same reverence that books are starting to be endowed with now.

Its a reverence that'll quickly vanish if you move house. Carrying 5 bookcases worth of books will make you want a kindle very quickly.

[Historybuff83]

Yeah, I wonder if back in the day scrolls were met with the same reverence that books are starting to be endowed with now.

Its a reverence that'll quickly vanish if you move house. Carrying 5 bookcases worth of books will make you want a kindle very quickly.

As someone who has moved multiple times since graduating university, I wholeheartedly agree

[hopefullyWe]

digital for school or constantly using it as a reference on the go, and physical to read good favorites or new series!

[Archaewok1]

I like both. I actually have an e-reader type app on my laptop, and it's okay. But sometimes I also like the feel of what I have been used to- the paper books.

[The_Xenologer]

I'm a luddite in this regard. I hate reading short stories or novels on a screen, whether it be a computer screen or an e-reader screen. There's a tactile joy that you get from reading a real book that you don't get from reading a digital book. The smell of the pages, the immediacy of the words, and the ability to easily flip back and forth between the pages are all aspects of reading a real book that I love. I spent a lot of time at the local library or book store as a kid, and those experiences are not something that you can recreate by sifting through digital books on iTunes or Amazon.com.

Also, I think that having a book collection is great. Yes, it's quite annoying to move it between houses, but well worth it in my opinion. For me, displaying my books is like displaying paintings or pictures or posters. They are decoration and identity, and my living space would feel empty without them.

The only reason that I'd even slightly want an e-reader is for university, as lugging around heavy textbooks can be awful. Still, it seems like I study better from reading actual books than reading digital copies anyway.

[Dan]

Still, it seems like I study better from reading actual books than reading digital copies anyway.

Print the part you are studying.

[The_Xenologer]

Still, it seems like I study better from reading actual books than reading digital copies anyway.

Print the part you are studying.

I do that sometimes, but not if the readings are really long or there's a lot of them. Ink is too expensive! Haha.

[Dan]

I do that sometimes, but not if the readings are really long or there's a lot of them. Ink is too expensive! Haha.

Get a laser printer. You can get a good black and white one for about 50 bucks. Inkjet printers disposes of at least half the ink you buy for it in an internal compartment and you paid more per volume for that ink than you would if you were buying human blood (not an exaggeration or a figure of speech).

Go buy laser, you'll save a ton of money.

Here's a video about all the ink an inkjet wastes.