Why Would Anyone Prefer A Laptop To A Book or Magazine?

[Capn Flukie]

As someone who's physically moved a couple thousand textbooks today... gimee the laptop!

Seriously, as Miss Chicken said, I have poor vision and it's much easier for me to read from a screen than a page, a fact I don't like, but that's the reality for me.

 

[KDoug]

To me, there are benefits and drawbacks to both. If space, convenience, and money were never a concern, I think I'd pick conventional books every time. There's definitely a charm to the printed page that you can't get from the screen. I love the covers, the lettering, the feel of the pages, and the way that you can flip through them.

But, technology has a lot going for it these days. Now, I can carry several dozen books in the same size package in which I could only have one or two before. If I want to get more, I don't even have to leave the house. I can just download a new one and if it's in the public domain, I can do it for free. And, I can pick the size of the lettering to suit my needs. I don't have to stick with the one size that I can get on the printed page.

Also, back when CRT monitors were the only other option, printed media had a distinct edge in being easy on the eyes. But now that LCD screens have matured and Digital Ink is starting to catch on, that edge is far slimmer.

 

[T'Baio]

I've never understood why anyone would prefer to read a book or a magazine from a computer screen rather than having it physically available.

Perhaps I'm just old fashioned.

Any thoughts?

Different people like different things? Try and look beyond yourself.

 

[indranee]

I can't afford a laptop so I just use an Etch-a-Sketch.

Damn thing got a virus and had to be wiped.

ya made me laugh ya old codger!

 

[Michael Chris]

And what about cover art?

Besides, doesn't anyone else love the "new car smell" of brand new books?

I do, but I have to say the convenience the easiness on the eyes and a whole bunch of things I have to say that eInk/ePaper are absolute marvels and preferable to regular books.

 

[RoJoHen]

I've never understood why anyone would prefer to read a book or a magazine from a computer screen rather than having it physically available.

Perhaps I'm just old fashioned.

Any thoughts?

Different people like different things? Try and look beyond yourself.

Very constructive.

I can't stand reading things for too long on a computer screen. It gives me a headache. Plus, even with a laptop, it's sometimes hard to get very comfortable. With a book, you can just curl up or lay down or whatever. Harder to do that with a computer.

 

[TorontoTrekker]

I've never used an e-book reader, but an author friend of mine researched them a few months ago and there seem to be all kinds of reasons why they're quite practical. (He likes eReader for the iPhone.) Not only can you change font sizes as has been mentioned before, you can change the font itself and reverse the colours on the screen, making the text very readable.

One reason that hasn't been mentioned - I would imagine that it's easier to annotate e-books if you want to be able to refer back to a passage for some reason. (I refuse to write in books - I don't even write in magazines that I'm going to discard.)

I think that the main reason I would want to use an electronic device to read from, though, is that I could "pack" several books for a trip. The hardest part of packing for me is deciding what I want to take to read.

Don't get me wrong - I love the feel of books in my hand, but I can see the attraction of reading books in an electronic format.

 

[Miss Chicken]

^^^I did mention in my first post that passages could be highlighted in an e-book.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have never bought an e-book yet. I don't have a laptop or an e-reading device, and I'm concerned about the DRM.

 

[Harvey]

I wouldn't read an e-book (too long staring at a computer screen), but I'd rather have a magazine online than in print form. Magazines are much more fragile, and often their content immediate and with a short shelf life, that it's preferable to just read them online and save the paper. I've been enjoying the New Yorker as such, and read Slate daily, and Salon and the online version of the Onion pretty often as well.

 

[trekkerguy]

As another poster said, content.

To me that's all that matters. I have a very large collection of Star Trek/Scifi
Novels in bother paperback and hardcover form and love the nostalgia of
it, but aside from the New Frontier series, I'll be buying/reading off of a PC
or other digital device from here on out. More content more readily available.

 

[Neopeius]

I've never understood why anyone would prefer to read a book or a magazine from a computer screen rather than having it physically available.

Perhaps I'm just old fashioned.

Any thoughts?

Hypertext implementation is seriously lacking in books.

 

[Neopeius]

I think that the main reason I would want to use an electronic device to read from, though, is that I could "pack" several books for a trip. The hardest part of packing for me is deciding what I want to take to read.

I have a Palm-TX with Plucker installed. On it are about 40 public domain books. Lots of Lovecraft, Burroughs, Baum. I use it all the time, particularly at Disneyland

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Lovecraft and Disneyland...a match made in heaven.

Featuring Main Street R'lyeh, Innsmouthland, Dunwich Horror Square, Frombeyondland, Eldergods Country, Cthulthu's Toontown, and of course Really Really Tomorrowland.

 

[Rincewiend]

I have never bought an e-book yet. I don't have a laptop or an e-reading device, and I'm concerned about the DRM.

Try this, it's free, as are the texts on Project Gutenberg:

Tom's eTextReader

This program lets you read plain text files - e.g. eTexts as provided by Project Gutenberg - in a book-like manner.

It also has a built in Project Gutenberg browser...

http://www.fellnersoft.at/eTR.htm

 

[Naira]

I'm a Computer Scientist, I work with computers every day, and yet, there is no thing like the feel of a hard copy. Either for a book or for a paper, I just like printed pages better.

I somehow don't find the electronic versions of highlighting and taking notes convenient. Plus, working with paper is much easier for my eyes. When I read I'm focused and if I read from a screen my eyes get tired (it feels like I've been playing videogames for hours).

 

[pigletsgiblets]

I will always prefer books.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have never bought an e-book yet. I don't have a laptop or an e-reading device, and I'm concerned about the DRM.

Try this, it's free, as are the texts on Project Gutenberg:

Tom's eTextReader

This program lets you read plain text files - e.g. eTexts as provided by Project Gutenberg - in a book-like manner.

It also has a built in Project Gutenberg browser...

http://www.fellnersoft.at/eTR.htm

Those are all Windows only. I have a Mac.

 

[Misfit Toy]

I've never understood why anyone would prefer to read a book or a magazine from a computer screen rather than having it physically available.

Perhaps I'm just old fashioned.

Any thoughts?

Different people like different things? Try and look beyond yourself.

Very constructive.

Meh. It's about as constructive as the Original Post.

I can't stand reading things for too long on a computer screen. It gives me a headache. Plus, even with a laptop, it's sometimes hard to get very comfortable. With a book, you can just curl up or lay down or whatever. Harder to do that with a computer.

I've read comics on the laptop (Fantastic Four Archives), and I kept raising my hand to turn the page.

 

[Holdfast]

I noticed some TV ads for a "100 Great Books" game thingy Nintendo is doing for the DS. I guess there's a market for this sort of thing, though I do find reading off a screen annoying if done at length.