Poll Electronic and Physical Books

[DimesDan]

The question of whether an ebook or a physical book is better than the other comes up quiet often around here. Now I'm not too interested in the rational behind the certain choices (but do share them by all means) or any mudslinging (because that would mean @trampledamage would get angry) over why ebooks are better than physical books and vis versa, I'm just curious, which is more popular around these parts.

I'm personally ok with both and have no issues with either, I own a kindle with a fair few books on it and I also own a fair few books that are contained in a bookshelf.

 

[Csalem]

Few years ago I went to Kindle (it arrived the day I went to STID). I was a big fan of real books up till then but then when I got a Visa Debit card and could use Amazon I became curious about ebooks as I was missing out on some Trek books. I started with the Kindle app on my laptop and tried "The Stuff of Dreams". It seemed fine experience so risked an actual Kindle. Have been in love with it since. I can put any book on it but the Kindle is always the same size and weight which makes it so convenient. Furthermore it currently has over 100 books on it which I would have no room for in my house. Also the "ink paper" they use is great as it has no glare and is just like a book.
A final advantage is that as I am in Ireland I can now get books on the day published and not a month later.
As I said I love my kindle but I understand why people like real books.

 

[John Clark]

I like both, but nowadays lean towards most purchases being ebooks (for fiction anyway) just because of space. When the whole family is heavy readers, book shelf space may turn into a bit of an issue.

That said, I do like the feel of having a physical book in my hands.

 

[Mage]

I will always prefer real books. I just can't read on screen for a long time. My serosa might have something to do with that. But even then, I just like actual books.

 

[20fridge]

I prefer paper books. My one experiment with e- books occurred a year ago after my wife and I received a nook as a gift. After registering with Barnes and Noble we received a free download of our choice. We also bought a couple of e-books. Perhaps it was just the particular model we got, but it would often scroll multiple pages, or when I logged in it would jump several pages from where I left off. That paired with the fact that I can find many books cheaper at used book stores than the e-books Barnes and Noble sells has landed me squarely in the paper camp.

 

[bfollowell]

I was a tried and true, paper-only kind of guy until my wife and I picked Amazon Kindles five years ago. Since she's been through a Fire tablet and I've been through a Nook HD+ and now we're both reading on Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 tablets. I will never go back to reading paper books unless I just absolutely have to. The convenience of being able to easily carry multiple books with me, change the font size, not have to store my books after I'm finished, etc. make it a no-brainer for me.

I certainly have nothing against paper books. It's just a personal choice of what works best for me. I really couldn't care less how others read. I'm just happy that they're reading!

Personally, I know that there is no right or wrong way to read, and that one medium isn't really better or worse than the other. It's a wholly personal choice and each person has to decide what works best for them. Once they know what works for them, I say more power to 'em, as long as they keep reading.

 

[ArgyleTrekkie]

I tend to collect specific series in physical books and then I will read others as an ebook. I love trying to complete certain series though shopping at local book stores. It's like a treasure hunt and doesn't cost an arm and a leg to collect. The Voyager relaunch series I have both in digital form and ebook - clearly because I have became that crazy fan. I am okay with that, I reread them enough to warrant it.

 

[Galileo7]

Physical books.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I voted "I like both", but only because "giant flaming letters suspended in the air" wasn't listed as an option.

The convenience of being able to easily carry multiple books with me, change the font size, not have to store my books after I'm finished, etc. make it a no-brainer for me.

I bought A Pocket Full of Lies as a paper book, and I'm really wishing I could change the font size in it!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Electronic for me, all the way.

I respect those who still love to read physical novels, but those don't appeal to me at all anymore. I'm just too attached to the convenience and efficiency of e-books. (Hell, if I could afford it, I'd replace all the physical books I still own with e-books.)

 

[JD]

I still have a bunch of paper books that I haven't read yet, but when it comes to new stuff I'm an e-book person. It's just way more convenient.

 

[RandyS]

I tend to like older stuff, so I was tempted to vote for "parchment the way God intended" just to be facetious.I like paper books. Always have, always will.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I prefer the full tactile experience of print on paper. I get the appeal of ebooks, considering that I pretty much have a library's worth of my collection in storage at the moment, and having them all stored on a single device wouldn't lead to panic about where they are or if something happens to the physical copy, but there's something comforting for me about having a published physical copy of the actual book in my hands that I can't get with digitized media.

 

[Captain Crow]

Physical Books.

They don't require batteries.

 

[trampledamage]

Now I'm not too interested in the rational behind the certain choices (but do share them by all means) or any mudslinging (because that would mean @trampledamage would get angry)

Thank you

When I'm buying, I buy physical books but I get ebooks all the time out of the library - mainly because I can borrow them from the comfort of my sofa

When it comes to comfort reading, I still really like a paper book in my hands, but nothing beats the convenience of multiple books in one place and the ability to read one handed that comes from having books on my phone.


btw - I'm not up on the new tech - did you specify that the votes be secret, or am I missing the place to see who voted what? I want to know who the special snowflake is here...

 

[David cgc]

Now that it's more practical to read eBooks on my phone or something, I'm more amenable to them, but I still enjoy physical copies, and pretty much only read eBook exclusives as eBooks, and they have a tendency to fall to the bottom of my to-read pile since, among other things, they don't literally pile up.

I've been doubling back a bit to read the earlier eBook-exclusives that I missed, though I still haven't made it back to the last few SCE books. I'll probably want to revisit my hardcopies, first. It was hard enough remembering what was happening with the gap between the anthology releases. Jumping back now seems like I wouldn't get as much out of it as if I refreshed myself on the Da Vinci crew.

 

[Jakks]

I tend to collect specific series in physical books and then I will read others as an ebook.

This is pretty much me. I tend to be about 70% physical books and 30% ebooks.

 

[Avro Arrow]

btw - I'm not up on the new tech - did you specify that the votes be secret, or am I missing the place to see who voted what?

I don't think this one was set to have the votes publicly viewable... if it was, you could click the number of votes to see who voted for that answer. (Unfortunately, you have to click the votes for each answer separately.)

I want to know who the special snowflake is here...

But... aren't we all special snowflakes??

 

[Starbreaker]

I bought my first e-reader in 2009 and I haven't looked back. I just bought the latest model Nook a couple of days ago and have blazed through two Voyager books. I've got years worth of reading material in back pocket most of the time. I plug it up once every couple of weeks and I'm good to go. It's scratch proof, water proof, and I can read it in the dark. I've read hundreds of physical books, but I'm more attached to the words than the actual smell or feel of a paperback.

 

[Amaris]

I like both, but due to space constraints, 90% of my reading stock is digital. I have about 63 physical books left, with about 693 books in digital format that I read via my Kindle.