eReader or Book?

[TheWildWolf]

If you ever find yourself in New York again you must. They have three floors and the basement full of regular books and one is by appointment only and that's for rare and collectible books. You can even buy books by the foot. The Strand Book Store is at the corner of Broadway and 12th.

That looks incredible! I will definitely have to take a look there if I ever find myself in New York!

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

If I'm not wrong , Beyond the Wall has a good essay on this . I can't remember the exact title but I'm sure it's there. Oh Arch-MaesterPhilip that place does sound great , I've recently moved to a different country and I'm having a hard time finding book stores which keep a good collection of books or are bigger than the size of your average living room. I do think we'll see plenty of people move to the Kindle/Nook though , the availability of some books makes it impossible to not take that route. For example just shipping Legends, Legends 2 and Warriors from Amazon cost me as much as buying them.

I understand completely why as well people are making the switch as well. Storage is an issue for me but I'm stubborn as a mule and refuse to have the extinction of books on my conscience. Yeah when I bought those from Amazon buying all three together cost me $30 including shipping. eReaders make more sense for periodicals. I had stacks of Maxim and Military History magazine piling up.

[Datepalm]

What? No. I like e-ink. Hands off my e-ink! I don't have anything against tablets in theory, but I love the no-backlighting and the battery life you can measure in weeks for my ereader. And I like having a dedicated device rather than sharing books with what I check my email on.

[Lord of Oop North]

That article on E-Ink is really discouraging. I have a Kobo myself, and greatly prefer reading on it, as opposed to a backlit tablet.

That said, I also own a ton of paper books, and will likely never stop purchasing those. Both have their advantages. I like the eReader because it is lightweight and easily packable. It makes my commuting life (done mostly on a train) a lot easier. I like books too, but storing them is a problem. Even for someone like me who has the ability to create their own bookcases and shelving.

[Ser Pink of Floyd]

Im dead against eReaders, not that I dont see the piont and praticality of them, but I just like holding a book in my hand and know that its not going to run out of batteries or break when I drop it etc. I think the part I dislike the most is that you spend near as makes any difference £100 on a kindle (or whatever tablet it is) and then another £2-9 on the book to download on to it. Sure a Paperback on amazon is around £3-8 (est) and a hardback more, but they look good on my bookshelf :laugh:

[Raja]

. Yeah when I bought those from Amazon buying all three together cost me $30 including shipping.

Meh , I shelled out around $65 on them. I was hoping to get it slightly cheaper on .ca but that din't happen either.

I'm quite worried about moving all my medical textbooks , I'm only through the second year and I've already got quite the collection. I remember the last time I moved countries I ended up shipping my books to get to me. Then again , textbooks seem the kind of thing you can't really use on an iPad , it would just feel very strange

[Lord of Oop North]

Im dead against eReaders, not that I dont see the piont and praticality of them, but I just like holding a book in my hand and know that its not going to run out of batteries or break when I drop it etc. I think the part I dislike the most is that you spend near as makes any difference £100 on a kindle (or whatever tablet it is) and then another £2-9 on the book to download on to it. Sure a Paperback on amazon is around £3-8 (est) and a hardback more, but they look good on my bookshelf :laugh:

A lame argument. It's not a one-way street with only eReaders having "extra" costs. The cost of a physical book also includes the cost of storing it.

My Kobo cost me $120 CDN, but I easily have four-times that amount invested in bookshelves.

[Deedles]

I think I'm going to go for an ereader soon. I didn't think i would but I've been won over. I bought the 3g touch screen kindle for the boys birthday this year. He brought it to Portugal and Argentina on holidays and it was brilliant. I tried it a few times and was impressed. I certainly found it way easier to read on a bus or tram than a physical book. I can't see it ousting books entirely but for regular fiction maybe. Also, it may mean i never have to get rid of another book. I find it difficult to choose those books I have to sacrifice.

[Ken Stone]

Paper books are better for reading on a camping trip. That way if you have to go potty in the woods, but forgot tissue paper, you just rip out a page you've already read and you can clean yourself up with that.. For any other circumstance eBooks are better.

[Éadaoin]

I like both.

I love that I can store so many books on my ipad/nook, but I also enjoy the feel of paper books. However, recently I've been buying a lot of ebooks rather than paper books because I like that you can have them instantly, whereas paper books I usually order used online (because it's cheaper than going to the bookstore). I also am out of space for paper books; I have hundreds.

[Zoë Sumra]

Regarding storage space: my uncle-in-law gave my husband and me two self-assembly bookcases as a wedding present. We needed them quite badly as we didn't have enough space on existing shelves to put the books we already had in our house, and we had another thirty-nine boxes of books at my parents-in-law's house. Some are children's books we want to save till we have sprogs, which will get sorted into approximate reading levels and put into the loft (I found a full set of the original Thomas the Tank Engine books at my late parents' house. Those I was not going to relinquish), but the rest are ones we want out and available.

So far I've only assembled one of the two bookcases because I have no clue where to put the other. I keep staring at our bedroom and wondering whether we can move any furniture round so we can fit the second one in here. The only viable option I've come up with so far is behind the door in the spare room, and we've already got a full shelf of paperbacks in there, feeling unloved and un-looked at. If we sacrifice either my bedside table or my husband's, we could fit another shelf next to our bed, but we use our bedside tables for too much.

All our books are technically out and on display, with the one new bookshelf in use: but books are stacked two and three deep on a couple of our shelves, which I don't like because you can't get to all of them. I could double-stack books on these two new shelf sets too, as they're deep enough, but as aforementioned, not my favourite option. Horizontal stacking as the next move, probably. It's harder to get the books out but at least they're all visible.

It's not like we live in a modern house with the dimensions of a shoebox - we live in a Victorian semi, so, plenty of space. It's just all taken up by furniture, including bookshelves.

I love the feeling of reading a physical book, and I'm still buying some physical books - not just cookbooks, which as someone said upthread are just not suitable for ereader use IMO - but, as well as the portability issue, I can no longer discount the storage issue.

ETA: It's also much easier to make notes on an ereader version of my own books for later correction than it is to cart around half a ream of loose paper and make physical notes on that...

[Rubies & Jade]

I also don't understand why it has to be one or the other. I like both.

I love sitting in a comfy chair and reading a physical book. but I also live in a tiny space and while I have many bookshelves, there is just not enough room for me, Mr Jade and things like clothes as well as all the books I want. I have the books I love to reread, a few special books that have special meaning to me, and a huge TBR pile. and that's all the room I have. having a kindle makes getting the cheap, quick-read kinda books that I don't want to keep forever easier. I think I also tend to see books as objects to be used and abused, not as sacred objects that should never have their spine cracked... I know not everyone agrees with me there. :) so I don't need a book temple in my living space.

I also read *a lot* while moving around... on subways, at work, at line at the post office, whatever. I always have a book with me. and the kindle is way easier to carry and hold on the subway (especially since most days I also have a gym bag and purse as well.)

on the other hand, the whole idea that the books can be deleted so easily off the Kindle bothers me so I haven't really used it to by any expensive or full-price books. I'm conflicted about it for that reason. Also, I like looking at books to decide if I want to read them. I can't always tell from the little Amazon blurbs (sometimes you can't even tell if its a YA book or something!), nor do I trust user reviews generally. I can get a better sense of a book from look at it, reading a few pages, etc. Books definitely win out in that way.

so... I'll use them both. and watch to see how the industry develops.

[TheWildWolf]

Its interesting the opinions on book vs eReader. I know it doesn't have to be one or the other, it is more what you prefer.

I use public transit everyday to go to my university, and twice now I have seen someone drop and break an eReader/tablet. This scares we too much to buy one, just because if Im spending good money to buy one of these, I dont want to risk it. But it does seem superior to a book in quite a few ways.

But like someone said before, there is something about holding a book and flipping through the pages that makes me have a better connection to it. And luckily I haven't run into the problem of storage for the books. Maybe when that does arise, my opinion may change, but for now its still books for me!

[naz]

Come on, people. Why so opinionated? It's not like we're asking you to vote for President. When in doubt, choose C) All of the above.

[Ken Stone]

Come on, people. Why so opinionated? It's not like we're asking you to vote for President. When in doubt, choose C) All of the above.

I don't think it's surprising. Imagine if this forum was around about 5 years after Ford started selling Model T's. You'd have a discussion very similar:

"Horseless carriages vs carriages"

"It was really hard to get rid of my horses, but there is no way I'm going back. If I want to go to town I just crank the engine, let it warm, and drive. No more strapping the horses onto the carriage, brushing them down, and most importantly, no more shoveling horse sh*t!"

"I get the appeal of the horseless carriage, I do, however I like the tactile experience of having a horse pull my carriage."

"I say Good Day Sir! You are a Buffoon!"

[Datepalm]

What I don't get is why this debate gets peoples hackles up. Most of us will happily read books any way we can get them, and most of the rest cheerfully acknowledge that some people prefer paper and some prefer digital and it's a matter of taste, lifestyle, availability, whatever, and that's ok...which all makes sense. But then theres a crowd out there who puts this amazing amount of vitriol into defending their medium of choice, as if it really was a political issue, which I just don't get. A book vs ereader thread should be one of tepid nodding mild agreement, in any universe that seems reasonable to me. I really can't figure out why people care so much what they're reading on - and even more, what others are reading on.

[LuisDantas]

@Datepalm: to some extent this is likely a worry about availability of books.

For instance, there are many people wanting a paperback edition of ADWD and frustrated by what will end up in some cases to be a wait until March 2013 for a MMP (not a regular size paperback). And while the tales of Dunk & Egg are both readily available and inexpensive to get, many people get the mistaken impression that they are in fact quite expensive (because they confuse the graphic novels with the original tales, which to this day are only available legally in various anthologies).

It is legitimate to worry that maybe the growth of ebooks will happen at the expense of paper books to some degree, or vice versa. I don't personally think that is much of a real problem - if anything, the availability of paper books has always been somewhat shaky and is greatly improved by the advent of print on demand books - but I can see that not everyone will agree.

[PaulineMRoss]

I use public transit everyday to go to my university, and twice now I have seen someone drop and break an eReader/tablet. This scares we too much to buy one, just because if Im spending good money to buy one of these, I dont want to risk it.

I think a tablet's a bit too expensive and fragile to haul around on public transport. A Kindle's a better bet. Plus Amazon has a reputation for replacing broken Kindles without fuss (so far, anyway). Don't know whether that applies to Nooks and other varieties.

[Ken Stone]

Everyone should read in the format of their choosing. Anyone who disagrees is a douche.

[Daenerys is my queen]

Books books books! You can't beat reading a book. And whenever I read too long on a screen, I end up getting distracted. :)