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Physical book vs Electronic copy


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Physical books all the way.  I'm not remotely interested in a Kindle, or its equivalent.  

 

I love the smell of books, the feel of them, their covers, and the crinkles in their spines.  I enjoy seeing the jut of my bookmark, that shows how far I am, and how much I have still to read.

 

It's all very sensory.   ;)

 

Plus, I take a delight in glancing over at my bookshelves and seeing all those much-loved books, which bring back memories, and remind me that yes, I need to re-read them soon -- if only I had the time!

I agree with all of this (but I try to avoid broken spines!) However, if I'm going out and need to take my iPad with me, I sometimes leave my book at home to save a bit of weight.

 

I don't have anything against e-readers personally, but I'll always prefer physical books.  :wub: 

 

I now own two Kindles, a keyboard Kindle that's a few years old and Kindle Fire.

 

Wow, you don't do things by halves! :D

 

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I love my kindle (a paperwhite) and equally love my tree books. With my most favourite books I try to get them in both formats where possible, but with reference books where I will be dipping in and out and flipping to book notes and indexes/indices I always get the hold in the hand, turn the pages books. 

 

If it contains words, be they printed on a paper page or electronically put across then I am very likely going to love them and want to own them.

 

  :blush2:   :D   :readingtwo:

Edited by Chrissy
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  • 2 weeks later...

The thing that troubled me for a number of years was would i enjoy an e-reader or not. As a present for my 50th birthday i was able to add some cash to a workplace collection and buy a Kindle Paperwhite to see what my thoughts were and was i being a luddite without good reason.

 

Well i use it and have a number of books on it and have read several books and my views are that i still prefer the physical book for several reasons. The main one is i seem to follow the story and remember more compared to the Kindle and it feels more relaxing to read a physical book.

 

With the Kindle i find i read quicker but lose track of the plot more easily and don't feel like I'm reading a book but just text with no substance even though it is a book but just in a different format.

 

Strangely i have to read my Kindle in Landscape mode to make the page seem wider and then it reads more like book page..................... well to me it does anyway.

 

So physical books are my first choice.

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I prefer physical books, but have no issues with electronic copies. I own an e-reader and I'm happy with it.

 

Whenever possible, I try to get a physical copy. This works for books in Dutch, I can usually get them from the library. But I much prefer reading in English and getting physical copies can be challenging. I love my library for having a fair amount of English books, but there is just so much more I want to read than my library, or another one nearby, can offer me. Especially with more recent novels, this can be an issue.

 

My rule is that if the library doesn't have it and I can't find it in a store, I'll get the e-book. Of course, it also depends on how much that costs - I'm not going to spend a lot of money on a book if I don't know whether I'll enjoy it.

 

What I also like to do is read a physical copy, but have a copy on my e-reader as well for travel. It's always a bit of a search to the page I've reached since numbers rarely correlate, but that's the least of it

 

My only real issue with e-readers is - and this'll sound stupid - that they get dusty. I'm not a neat freak, but when there's a fleck of dust on my screen, it keeps catching my eye and I keep wanting to get rid of it, then accidentally turn pages and such.

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  • 4 months later...

I have an old keyboard style Kindle and although I have approximately 650 books on there, I've probably not even read a quarter of them.  Thankfully they're mainly ones I've either picked up for free or for no more than a couple of pound (if that).  Although I don't mind reading books on my Kindle, or at least it's certainly not as bad as what I first thought it would be prior to me owning one, I find that I will always pick a physical book over an ebook if I have a choice as I find the whole reading experience so much more enjoyable.  What with laptops and tablets and smartphones these days I find snuggling up with a good old fashioned book a fabulous way to unwind... and it gives me a break from modern technology for a while.

Edited by Autumn
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What with laptops and tablets and smartphones these days I find snuggling up with a good old fashioned book a fabulous way to unwind... and it gives me a break from modern technology for a while.

 

That's really my main issue with an electronic device. Anything that hooks up to the net is very distracting, and devices that contain multiple files encourage flipping between stories, which is again a hindrance to actually finishing anything or concentrating very well. 

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I did buy a Sony e-reader a few years ago and its very good - reads all kinds of files, not just Amazon ones - and its e-ink, and not backlit, so its actually very like reading a paper book and nothing like a computer screen. I have taken it on holiday a few times to save luggage space. But it will never replace a proper book for me. Seems that others think the same - sales of e-readers have apparently fallen while paper books have risen, in the last year or so.

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I was really against ebooks before owning a Kindle a few years ago. I am a book sniffer and I love to hold the book and touch the pages but for the sake of bad eyesight, the poor trees, mobility and space, I found the ebook a better option. I always buy my favourite books *throws a quick glance at Paradise Lost and Complete Works of Jane Austen* but I am really glad there is an alternative to the regular book. 

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I think also, since I started collecting older books, its that history of the book that gets me interested enough to read it, too. If I have a biography that was published 50 years ago, its picking that up and knowing its been owned by people for that amount of time that is part of the enjoyment of ownership.

 

I guess if I just found a modern book I wanted to read, then an e-book copy would be fine.

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My first post. Howdy to all!

 

I just read Athena's post (don't know how to quote yet) and I completely agree.

 

I have a kindle paperwhite which I take absolutely everywhere. Can't stand being 'bookless'! It's much easier to carry round. It means I can take lots and lots of books when I travel. However, I miss my old kindle keyboard (I broke the screen

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I'm reading far slower and getting distracted much more easily. Bizzare, isn't it?

 

I also seem to read quicker when I read books on a Kindle.  I'm not sure why that would be the case... maybe because I'm not so aware of how much I've read due to the fact that most of my Kindle books don't have page numbers.

 

I love purusing them on the bookshelf and picking which one I want to read next. You just can't do that easily on the kindle.

 

One of the things that I dislike the most about reading on a Kindle is the fact that's it not so easy to look back at things.  For example, I sometimes have to flick back a few pages to refresh my mind on where I'd got to, or who a certain character was etc. and that's just not as easy or as convenient as it is with a physical book.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I prefer physical books, I just like the feel of them and seeing a proper cover. However, I absolutely love my Kindle and on holidays it's great. There are also so many deals on Kindle books, I've often gotten them much cheaper than physical books. 

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There are also so many deals on Kindle books, I've often gotten them much cheaper than physical books. 

 

Tell me about it.  I have over 700 books on my Kindle and I've probably not even read a hundred of them.  The majority were either free or super cheap.  My problem is I will always pick a physical book to read over electronic ones so it's taking me a long time to get through them all.

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Currently having electronics-related reading issues! I have been stuck on the same book for weeks now, almost unheard of for me, simply because I can't be bothered to open my tablet. There are some other issues to blame, perhaps, such as the fact that I've recently become something of a news hound and a lot of my free time is being consumed with videos about American elections and racial violence, Syria, climate change, science, etc, but I do feel if I had more paper books available to me right now that I wouldn't be quite so distracted, if you can call it that. 

Edited by Kolinahr
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I've answered this question before, but I love my Kindle and haven't read a book since I got it years ago. I don't like physical books anymore.

 

I...can't....comprehend...your...words.... :o I sometimes think I love books more than reading itself.

 

(but fair enough really, we're all different) :)

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I have a policy (not sure if I've mentioned it here before) of reading almost everything on my tablet, and if I enjoy something enough to want to own a hardcopy, then I buy a hardcopy. My aim is to eventually only own books I've loved.

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